Eastside Baptist Church, Winfield, Alabama

"The God Who Died and Lives Again"

The God Who Is There
Written by D. A. Carson
“The God Who Died and Lives Again” – Chapter Ten
Born to Die
The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the center of the Bible’s message.Jesus was born and came to earth to die. “He will save his people from their sins.” (Matt 1:21)This is the unique message of the Christian gospel.
The Ironies of the Cross
“Hail, king of the Jews!”The Man who is mocked as king is in fact the King.“You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself!”The Man who is utterly powerless is transcendently powerful. “He saved others, but he can’t save himself!”The Man who can’t save himself saves others.“He trusts God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him!”The Man who cries out in despair trusts God.
Can God Die?
The Bible never speaks of God the Father dying. He is the eternal Spirit.It does speak of Jesus, who is the Word (=God) in the flesh, dying.It does speak of the cross in terms of God’s sacrifice. It is God’s action in Christ, the man who is also God.
The Resurrection
Overwhelming eyewitness testimonyWhy doubt the resurrection of Jesus?Only the offended party can forgive.“My Lord and my God!”

"Esau Trades His Birthright" (Genesis 25:27-34)

"Esau Trades His Birthright" (Genesis 25:27-34)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM, April 24, 2016
Genesis 25:27–34 (NIV)

27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)

31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.

So Esau despised his birthright.

"Fellowship with God through Confession" (1 John 1:8-10)

"Fellowship with God through Confession" (1 John 1:8-10)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, April 24, 2016
1 John 1:8–10 (NIV)
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
1. Christians do not deny the presence of sin in their lives (vv. 8, 10).
2. Christians do not deny the presence of sin in their lives; instead they openly and continually confess their sins to God (v. 9).
Big Idea: Christians do not deny the presence of sin in their lives; instead, they honestly and continually confess their sins and receive the forgiveness that has been offered to us by God through Jesus Christ.
Christians do not cover-up; they confess.

"The God Who Loves"

The God Who Is There
Written by D. A. Carson
“The God Who Loves” – Chapter Nine
Confused about God’s Love
If someone believes in God today, the one attribute they are likely to ascribe to God is love.However, the world’s definition of love—a love that is non-discriminating, non-judgmental is not the Bible’s picture of the love of God at all.God is also holy, righteous, true, and just.Any definition of God’s love that is true to the Bible must see that his love operates in full harmony with all of the other attributes of his being, without taking away from any of them.
Speaking of God’s Love
The Intra-Trinitarian love of GodGod’s general care and grace for all of creationGod’s moral, inviting, yearning love calling people to turn from sin and destruction.God’s love is sometimes described as selective.Once in relationship with his covenant people—the love of God may be spoken of in a conditional sense:“Keep yourselves in God’s love”Connected with obedienceA relational love (including discipline)
John 3:16-21
 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.  21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
God’s Love in John 3:16
In the Bible it is simply astonishing that God loves us.The measure of God’s love for us is Jesus.The purpose of God’s love for us is that we might have life.The means by which we come to enjoy this love and life is faith.

"The Lord Chooses Jacob" (Genesis 25:19-26)

"The Lord Chooses Jacob" (Genesis 25:19-26)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM, April 17, 2016
Genesis 25:19–26 (NIV)

19 This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.

Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram  and sister of Laban the Aramean.

21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

23 The Lord said to her,

“Two nations are in your womb,

and two peoples from within you will be separated;

one people will be stronger than the other,

and the older will serve the younger.”

24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.  26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.  Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
1. God provides for the continuation of his promises by supernatural grace (19-21).
2. God chooses the recipient of the promises by sovereign grace (22-23).
3. God's people must respond in faith to the outworking of God's sovereign plans (24-26).
Main Idea: Those who owe their existence to sovereign creation and divine election must be able to respond in faith and acknowledge the hand of God in the circumstances of life.

"Fellowship with God, Who Is Light" (1 John 1:5-7)

"Fellowship with God, Who Is Light" (1 John 1:5-7)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, April 17, 2016
1 John 1:5–7 (NIV)

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
God is pure, uncorrupted Light (v. 5).We are deceiving ourselves and others if we claim to be in fellowship with God all the while we are walking in darkness (v. 6).Walking in the light with God provides assurance that we are in fellowship with Him, with other believers, and that our sins have been forgiven (v. 7).Main Idea: We have no basis for claiming that we are in fellowship with God or that our sins have been forgiven if we are not walking in the light.

"The God Who Grants New Birth"

The God Who Is There
Written by D. A. Carson
“The God Who Grants New Birth” – Chapter Eight
Our Ultimate Need
We are in rebellion against God.Instead of wiping out the whole race, God has mercifully chosen to save a remnant by grace.We deserve death, but God provided atonement-provisionally in animal sacrifices, but finally in Christ Jesus our Redeemer.We have rebelled, and God’s wrath is against us-we need to be reconciled to God.We need to be morally transformed, or we will just go on sinning.We need all of the effects of sin to be overcome and reversed.
The New Birth
The new birth is not a name change, a human decision, or a religious experience.The new birth is a powerful regeneration, by God himself, in the human life, such that those who are born again are necessarily transformed.
What Did Jesus Say?
“No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”“No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.”“I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean” (Ezek 36:25)“I will put my Spirit in you” (v. 27)The new birth is bound up with the dawning of a new covenant that would be characterized by moral transformation and by the power and life of God to transform and renew.“Spirit gives birth to spirit.”“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”We may not be able to explain exactly how the new birth comes about, but we can see its effects.Where there is genuine new birth, you always see the results.Where the new birth has genuinely come from God, you will see transformation-a changed life.Not perfection, but the beginning of life from God that shapes our existence in a new direction.Christianity is not about ritualism, religious practice, or self-directed morality.The new birth signals more than a profession of faith; it signals transforming power. The new birth transforms, because it is God’s work not ours.
Jesus’ Authority to Speak
“We speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen...No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.”Jesus can speak of the new birth, because it originates in heaven—where he is from.
How Jesus Brings New Birth
We provide the sin, death and destruction; God provides forgiveness and life.We receive life not by ritual or effort, but by looking to God’s salvation in faith.On his cross Jesus provided the means by which we have new birth.In John 3, eternal life is the product of new birth.If you have new birth, you have life, and this life is eternal.New birth causes us to see—looking to the crucified and risen Christ for eternal life.By his death we have life.

"Abraham's Final Days" (Genesis 25:1-18)

"Abraham's Final Days" (Genesis 25:1-18)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM, April 10, 2016
Genesis 25:1–18 (NIV) 25 Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. 3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.
5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6 But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.
7 Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. 8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, 10 the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites.  There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.
12 This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Sarah’s slave, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.
13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 16 These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps. 17 Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. 18 His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. And they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them.

"Fellowship with God Incarnate" (1 John 1:1-4)

"Fellowship with God Incarnate" (1 John 1:1-4)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, April 10, 2016
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-- this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.  2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.  3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  4 We write this to make our joy complete.  (1 John 1:1-4, NIV)

"The God Who Becomes a Human Being"

The God Who Is There
Written by D. A. Carson
“The God Who Becomes a Human Being”: Chapter Seven
A God Who Is Coming
The prophets speak of a time when God would come to his people.The mystery is that sometimes this coming of God is also linked with the coming of a man, a Davidic kingThe little child is also the Mighty God, Everlasting Father (Is 9:6).
New Testament
Matthew and Luke: a child born of a virgin who is the “Son of God” come to “save his people from their sins.”Jesus is God’s solution to the sin problem begun in Genesis 3.
John 1:1-18
John’s gospel does not begin with the story of Jesus’ birth but by thinking about what the coming of Jesus means.Jesus is the eternal Word, the eternal God who became human and came to us.
John 1:1
OT understanding of “Word” God’s self-expressionGod’s revelationThe agent of God in creation The agent of God that comes to save and transform God’s people.“was with God” – God’s peer“was God” – God himself
The Three-in-One God
John’s Gospel helps us to understand the complexity of the eternal Triune God.Jesus is to be differentiated from God and yet at the same time is God.God (Father, Son, and Spirit) sharing eternal love before time.
John 1:2-13
The Word creates us: The agent of God in creationThe Word gives us light and life: The same light that brought life to creation brings eternal life to this world of corruption and death.The Word confronts and divides.Belief in Jesus by being born of God
John 1:14-18
The Word became a human being. Allusions to Exodus 32-34Tabernacle/TempleGloryGrace & Truth (Love & Faithfulness)Grace & LawSeeing God

"Preparing for the Future" (Genesis 24:1-67)

"Preparing for the Future" (Genesis 24:1-67)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM, April 3, 2016
Preparing for the Future in Faith (1-9)Trusting in God's Guidance and Providence (10-27)Obediently Fulfilling Covenant Obligations (28-60)Blessed by the Faithful Covenant Lord (61-67)Main Idea: God will faithfully and providentially accomplish his covenant purposes, and he often is pleased to use the faithful and obedient actions of his followers to accomplish those purposes.

"A Letter for the Assurance of Faith" (1 John)

"A Letter for the Assurance of Faith" (1 John)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, April 3, 2016
1.    How can I know that I am a Christian and that I am assured of eternal life with God?
a.    The promises of God
b.    The internal ministry/witness of the Holy Spirit
c.     The fruit of the Spirit
 
2.      The letter of 1 John is written primarily to give us a basis for our Christian assurance.
1 John 5:13   I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
3 Tests of Assurance in 1 John
a.    The test of belief
b.    The test of love
c.    The test of obedience
Main Idea: My prayer is that this letter will draw us all into a real, living, and assured faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. This faith can be assured when we witness the presence of belief, love, and obedience in our lives by the grace of God.

"Christ Is Risen and Exalted"

"Christ Is Risen and Exalted"
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Easter Sunday AM, March 27, 2016
Philippians 2:5–11 (NIV)

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

7 rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

"The Son of Man Lays Down His Life"

"The Son of Man Lays Down His Life"
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM March 20, 2016
1. Jesus died on the cross of Calvary to be the sacrifice of atonement to remove our guilt.
2. Jesus died on the cross of Calvary to ransom us from our enslavement to sin.
3. Jesus died on the cross of Calvary to propitiate the wrath of God toward us as sinners.
4. Jesus died on the cross of Calvary to reconcile us to God because we were at enmity with him.

"The God Who Is Unfathomably Wise"

The God Who Is There
Written by D. A. Carson
“The God Who Is Unfathomably Wise” – Chapter Six
Two Types of Writings
PsalmsWisdom LiteratureSome overlap between the two:Some psalms are wisdom literatureSome wisdom literature is poeticThese books don’t advance the story, but are a reflection of the life of God’s people “during the story.”Psalms
The God Who Makes His People SingVarious Kinds of PsalmsPsalm 1Psalm 8Psalm 14Psalm 19Psalm 40Psalm 51Wisdom Literature
The God Who Is Unfathomably WiseProverbsJobEcclesiastes

"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 Son of Man Came to Be Our Servant"

"The Son of Man Came to Be Our Servant"
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM March 13, 2016
Scripture Texts: Philippians 2:5-7; Luke 4:14-21; Mark 10:45
1. Jesus served us by living in poverty and humility not wealth and royalty.
2. Jesus served us by enduring all of the hardships and disappointments of this life.
3. Jesus served us by enduring the most powerful temptations to sin and passing the test.
4. Jesus served us by teaching us the truth of God with clarity and authority.
5. Jesus served us by showing compassion to the needy through his miracles, signs, and wonders.
6. Jesus served us by living a perfect, law-keeping life of righteousness as our representative.
7. Jesus served us by providing a model of faith, obedience, humility, and meekness even in the face of cruel persecution.
8. Jesus served us preeminently by giving his life to the death of the cross for us in atonement for our sins.
Main Idea: Jesus, the Son of Man, humbled himself and became our servant.
Applications:
- Praise to God for Christ's service on our behalf.
- May we follow the pattern of humble service Christ has left for us.

"The God Who Reigns"

The God Who Is There
Written by D. A. Carson
“The God Who Reigns” - Chapter Five
God’s Kingdom Over All
God’s Reign should not be confused with “reduced” ideas of kingship in the modern world.As Creator, God reigns over all. His sovereignty covers every domain in the universe.You cannot not be in God’s kingdom in this sense.
God’s Kingdom Over Israel
God also reigns in a special sense over a subset of his universal dominion.He reigns as king over his redeemed, covenant people.He rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt, covenanted with them, and now reigns over them as their King.
From Moses to David
Moses/Joshua – God appointed leader, mediating God’s law.Judges – vacuum of godly leadership, rebellion and chaos.Saul – a king after the peoples’ heartDavid – a king after God’s heart
The Covenant with David
2 Samuel 7David’s desire to build a “house” (temple) for God.David’s plan rejected. Why?God alone takes the initiative in key moments of his plan.God makes his servants great, not the other way around.God will build a “house” (dynasty) for David.God ensures the continuance of the dynasty in spite of human sin.The Davidic king is to reign as God’s “son” – patterned after him.An everlasting dynasty–eventually fulfilled by an ever-living King.
King David to King Jesus
Kingdom DividedNorthern Kingdom (Israel) – rejected Davidic dynasty, defeated and deported to Assyria.Southern Kingdom (Judah) – mostly wicked kings, eventually defeated and exiled to Babylon.A small remnant returns to JudahTemple is rebuilt, but pales in comparison to Solomon’s.God’s people dominated by succession of world powers – Persia, Greece, & Rome.At the turn of history, Israel ruled by Rome and fake kings like Herod.
Jesus and His Kingdom
Descendant of Abraham & DavidMulti-faceted understanding of “Kingdom” in Jesus’ teachingWheat/tares“Born again”Already here but still more to comeJesus must reign until he defeats all of his foes, the last being death.
1 Corinthians 15:25-26
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
King Jesus will bring final resolution to the problem of sin and death that began in Genesis 3. Jesus atones for sin and conquers death for his people.

"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.

"The Son of God Becomes a Man"

Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM March 6, 2016