A Mother's Faith Pastor Grant Ethridge | Liberty Live Church

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

amongst my favorite music. yourself. Good morning, welcome to Liberty Live Church. We are so glad you decided to join us. Today's your first day at Liberty. We'd love to meet you. So text connect to 40371, tap the seat back in front of you, or visit us at one of our next step centers after the service today. We can't wait to meet you. Because of your generosity, lives are being changed right here in Hampton Roads and around the world. When you give, you partner with us to help change lives, communities, and the world for Jesus Christ. You can give through our website, tap the seat in front of you, or through an envelope at your campus today. Thank you for investing in all that God is doing through the work here at Liberty. You know, God is moving in so many incredible ways here at Liberty. From kids to students to young adults to senior adults, there are so many ways for you to find community, discover your purpose, and grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus. So right now, let's look at some exciting things coming up. Don't miss what's happening all throughout the week. So follow us on social media and connect with your campus Facebook group. Thanks again for being here today where it's not just church, it's life. Good morning, Liberty. Welcome to Liberty Live Church Online. Y'all, we are so grateful you're here today. This is Weston, I'm Jenny, and we would love to meet you. So Weston, what can they do? They can comment in the chat right now. Let us know where you're watching from.

Let us know who's with you. Hopefully you're not driving because that's dangerous. There was somebody a couple weeks ago on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. There was? Sometimes you may be driving, but keep your eyes on the road. Keep your eyes on the road, and we'd love seeing where everyone's joining from each and every week. Different states. That's right. You mentioned someone from India was watching. Yes. Just a couple Sundays ago. Amazing. We love this community. We're growing. Weston, where are you joining from? And you can text. Yes. Text LIFE to 40371. Or you can scan that QR code on the screen. Let us know how we can be praying for you. That's right. Or maybe a next step of faith. Or just introduce yourself that way because we want to send you a free gift. I love that. And I just want to say thank you for joining us online. It's a big decision to wake up, decide to go to church. It's also a big decision to wake up. You could go to any social media. You could watch TV.

But no, you decided, I'm still going to go to church today, even if it's online. That's a great decision. We believe the Lord's going to speak to you this morning. It's going to be a great day. But Jennie, there's stuff happening in the life of Liberty Live. All the time. Yeah, tell us about it. All the time. Y'all have got to go to our events page, libertylive.church slash events for the full list. But we've got parent-child dedication coming up. We've got grad Sunday coming up. We've got Liberty Kids Week, student camp. We've got a mission trip to North Africa going out later this fall, 21 days of prayers coming up again. We don't even have that on the events page yet, but y'all are faithful to attend. and you're gonna wanna know it's coming. So, I mean, full summer, just go to libertylive.church slash events, fill out the form, sign your kids up. It's gonna be incredible. You don't wanna miss out. Yeah, as Jenny said, all the events are listed there. You can find it. And if there's a campus near you, I wanna challenge you to come next Sunday in person. Online's great, as we already talked about, but in person is even better. If you can make it to a campus near you, come and visit. But guys, it's gonna be a great, great Sunday.

We're continuing our series. By faith. By faith, going through the book of Hebrews, and I'm excited how the Lord's gonna speak to you today. So let's get ready, and let's dive into worship. Good morning, Liberty. Can anyone testify the Lord's faithfulness today? Come on, give Him praise. Can anyone testify the Lord's faithfulness? He has never left us or forsaken us. We have this promise to hold on to this morning. So sing this with me. Sing, you've been good. You've been good, good for all my life. So nothing could ever change my mind. And you never break a promise. You're constant in all you do. Yours is the way, the truth, the life that I will choose. Come on. Oh, I know that I know You won't ever let me go. Every low and every high, You are faithful all the time. Oh, I've tasted and I've seen You've been so, so good to me. God, I know that I know You're faithful all the time. Oh, You're faithful all the time. Oh, You're faithful all the time. Oh, no, I won't look to the left or right. And I will keep heaven in my sight. No, I will not be shaken. And nothing is moving me. Oh, I've got a faking sure of things I cannot see.

Oh, I know that I know You won't ever let me go. Every low and every high, You are faithful all the time. Oh, I've tasted and I've seen You've been so, so good to me. God, I know that I know You're faithful all the time. Oh, You're faithful all the time. Oh, I won't stand in the way. I won't stand on words of man. God, I'll stand on Yours instead. All of my hope, all of my faith, all of it's in Your name. And the world cannot deny all that You've done in my life. All of my days, all of my praise, all of it's in Your name. Come on, sing your testimony this morning. I won't stand on words of man. God, I'll stand on Yours instead. All of my hope, all of my faith, all of it's in Your name. And the world cannot deny all that You've done in my life. All of my days, all of my praise, all of it's in Jesus' name. All of my days, all of my praise, all of it's Jesus' name. Oh, I know that I know You won't ever let me go. Every low and every high, You are faithful all the time. Oh, I know that I know You won't ever let me go. Every low and every high, You are faithful all the time. I've tasted and I've seen, You've been so, so good to me. God, I know that I know You're faithful all the time. You're faithful all the time. You're faithful all the time. Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-zo You're faithful all the time Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-zo You're faithful all the time

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-zo Come on, sing. You're faithful all the time Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-zo He's never left your side You're faithful all the time Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-zo You're faithful all the time Give Him praise, Church. He's never let you down. You never let us down, you never let us down You never let us down, you never let us down And, oh, I know that I know You won't ever let me go Every low and every high You are faithful all the time Oh, I've tasted and I've seen He's been so, so good to me God, I know that I know You're faithful all the time Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-zo Oh, you're faithful all the time Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-zo Psalm 34 says, I will praise the Lord at all times His praise will always be on my lips I will boast in the Lord And the humble will hear and be glad Oh, magnify the Lord with me Let us exalt His name together

I sought the Lord and He answered me And delivered me from all my fears Those who look to Him are radiant with joy Their faces will never be ashamed This poor man cried and the Lord heard him And saved him from all his troubles He says, taste and see that the Lord is good How happy are those who take refuge in Him 18 says, the Lord is near to the brokenhearted He saves those crushed in spirit And David ends this psalm saying, The Lord redeems the life of His servants All who take refuge in Him will not be punished Everybody in this room Has a testimony of God's faithfulness Of how He rescued you Of how He delivered you Of how you called on His name And He answered you And so today we've come to magnify the Lord together To exalt His name together That's what we've come to do And so come magnify the Lord with me Let us exalt His name together I remember how You provided How You held me through the night I remember how You sustained me When You stepped in to save my life If I knew then what I know now I would be still and let You work it out

Jesus, I was tossed in the water But I never went on You Jesus, when I went through the fire You were right there beside me You were always on time You were always, always, always on time You were always, always, always on time ♪ Always on time ♪ Sing, I remember. ♪ I remember how you cared when I couldn't understand ♪ ♪ And I remember how you loved me when I couldn't feel it ♪ ♪ Let me sing ♪ ♪ Jesus, I was tossed in the water ♪ ♪ But I never went under You were always on time ♪ ♪ Jesus, when I went through the fire ♪ ♪ You were right there beside me ♪ ♪ You were always on time ♪ ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ ♪ Oh, I can count on your faithfulness, God ♪ ♪ You never fail me ♪ ♪ There's never been a day, never been a minute ♪ ♪ Never been a moment that you weren't in it ♪ ♪ There's never been a time that you didn't see me through, God ♪ ♪ So, I worship you ♪ ♪ There's never been a day, never been a minute ♪ ♪ Never been a moment that you weren't in it ♪ ♪ There's never been a time that you didn't see me through, God ♪

♪ Oh, never, never, never, there's never been a day ♪ ♪ Not even a moment that you weren't in it ♪ ♪ There's never been a time that you didn't see me through, God ♪ ♪ There's never been a day, never been a minute ♪ ♪ Never been a moment that you weren't in it ♪ ♪ There's never been a time that you didn't see me through, God ♪ ♪ I worship you, Jesus ♪ ♪ I was tossed in water, but I never went under ♪ ♪ You were always on time, Jesus ♪ ♪ When I went through the fire, you were right there beside me ♪ ♪ You were always on time, Jesus ♪ ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ Let's count on your consistency. ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ Oh, you're always leading me. ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ Oh, you hold me in your right hand. ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ Good morning, church. The Lord is faithful, isn't he? He's always on time, he's good. And we're thankful for that. This morning, we've got Elisa here to be baptized. Elisa actually just graduated from Hampton University this last Friday. So we're proud of her for that. And she was sharing that she began following God, began following Jesus when she was a child. But as she reached this milestone in her life, she recognized that she wouldn't have made it

this far without the Lord. And so she wanted to go public with her identifying with Christ through baptism and set aside herself in this next season of life to say, I'm gonna be living for Jesus as I move forward. So Elisa, it's my joy and honor to baptize you as my sister in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. Bear with Christ in baptism. Praise to all in newness of life. Thank you. Sing this. ♪ You are the same God, You are the same God ♪ ♪ You answered prayers back then and You will answer now ♪ ♪ You are the same God, You are the same God ♪ ♪ Sing You heard our children now ♪ ♪ You hear our children now, You are the same God ♪ ♪ You are the same God, You answer prayers back then and now ♪ ♪ You are the same God, You are the same God ♪ ♪ You are providing, You are providing now ♪ ♪ Oh, cause You're the same God, You never change, You never change ♪ ♪ You provide, You provide, You provide, You provide, You provide ♪ ♪ You are the same God, You are the same God, You are the same God ♪ ♪ Cause there's never been a day, never been a minute ♪ ♪ Never been a moment that You weren't in it ♪ ♪ There's never been a time that You didn't see me through God, I worship You ♪ ♪ There's never been a day, never been a minute, never been a moment that You weren't in it ♪ ♪ There's never been a time that You didn't see me through God, I worship You ♪ ♪ There's never been a day, never been a minute, never been a moment that You weren't in it ♪ ♪ There's never been a time that You didn't see me through God, I worship You. ♪ ♪ There's never been a day, never been a minute, never been a moment that You weren't in it ♪

♪ We ain't never been forsaken, we ain't never been forsaken, I worship You. ♪ ♪ We worship You Jesus, oh for who You are, for Your faithfulness, I worship You. Oh, we worship You Jesus. Thank You, thank You, thank You. ♪ ♪ Thank You, thank You, thank You God. Come on and give God a shout of praise in this place. Come on, is anybody thankful for the faithfulness of God this morning? Come on, you can do better than that. Give Jesus the highest praise. Oh, we love You Lord. ♪ I'm telling you, we wouldn't be here today if it was not for the faithfulness of God in our lives. Can anybody think back on a moment where you needed Jesus to come through? Where you needed Him to show up in your life, to reveal Himself to you? And aren't you thankful that God's able to rescue and heal and restore and save? We have a God who is so, so faithful. We wouldn't be here without Him. And I'm telling you, we wouldn't be here this morning without some faithful mothers and grandmothers in the faith. Happy Mother's Day. We're so grateful for you. And I'm telling you, I'm just convinced that the Lord sovereignly works in conjunction with the prayers of faithful women in the household of God. And I'm so grateful for all the women in our church, those who serve, those who pray, those who give, those who rock babies, those who feed us and love us and care for us. And this morning, I want you to know you're so loved wherever you're at, even maybe watching online, watching from a retirement community or a hospital this morning. I want to say to you, Happy Mother's Day. We love you so much. Come on, can we give it up for the moms in the room? I have the best mama in the world, the first lady of this house. I'm so thankful for you, mama. And I got the best wife in the world, the mother to my kids. We're so, so blessed. Come on, will you give a mom a hug around you and tell them Happy Mother's Day? You're glad to see them this morning. So you can go ahead and be seated and turn your attention to the screen. screens. Well, good morning, Liberty. Who's glad to be in church on this Mother's Day? Well, shout out to all the moms, starting with my own mom, 91 years old, living in Texas. And shout out to my mom, and to my mother-in-law, and to the mother of my own children, and then our daughters who have given us 12 grandchildren. I tell you, the Bible says, give honor to whom honor is due. And when you think about moms, they're incredible. I mean, they're chefs, and chauffeurs, and referees, and teachers, and encouragers. And I'm telling you, they try to be everything to everybody. And today, I want you to make sure it's all about them. Come on, every campus, give it up for all the moms today. Some of you are here because you love Jesus. And some of you are here because you love Mother, and she told you to come today. And either way, it's good. We're just glad you're here, all right? I always like to give a welcome to those who are joining us online. Maybe you're away, traveling, you're in the military, missionary families, men and women in correctional facilities around the country. I want you to know it's a joy to study the Word of God together. We're going to be in Hebrews chapter 11.

We're in a series called By Faith, and we're looking at the men and women of faith. Last week, we looked at Abraham. Today, we're going to look at his bride. We're going to look at the first woman mentioned in the hall of faith, and that is Sarah. So I have called it a mother's faith, a mother's faith. Sarah's life wasn't one of perfection. It was one of progress. I want you to know Abraham and Sarah remind us that life does not have to be defined by our failures, but it can be defined by our faith. Everybody say, by faith. By faith. By faith. A mother's faith. The first thing we're going to see today is, number one, write this down, the promise, the promise. I'm going to begin reading in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 11. If you're there, say amen. By faith, even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was, watch this, past the age, since she considered that the one who had promised was faithful. It goes on to say, therefore, from one man, in fact, from one as good as dead, came offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and as innumerable as the grains of sand along the seashore. The promise was given in Genesis chapter 12. It's repeated five times in the book of Genesis. Let me show it to you. I will make you into a great nation. Not just that you're going to have a child, no, through that child you're going to have a great nation. I'm going to bless you and all peoples of the earth will be blessed through you.

That's a big promise, is it not? A big promise that you are going to be the father, you're going to be the mother of an entire nation. Not only was it a big promise, but they had a big problem. They couldn't even have one child. Now, how are you going to be the father and mother of a nation when you can't even have one child? In fact, the very first time we read about Sarai, and that's what she was called, Sarai, her name will be changed as we go through this sermon today. You'll see it. Genesis 11 verse 30, now, Sarai was childless. That's the first thing it says about her. I want you to know that Mother's Day can be a very difficult day for a lot of women. I understand that, and we want to be sensitive to that today. I want you to know that your identity is not in being married or being single. Did you hear that? Say amen. Amen. Your identity is not in having children or not having children. Your identity is in Christ, the one who made you. We see here today that Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive. Tara took his son, Abram, notice his name's not Abraham yet, it's Abram. His grandson. Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarah, the wife of his son Abram. And together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan, that's the promised land. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. Everybody say settled. You know, they start out as an unbelieving family, a pagan family, living in the land of what is today modern-day Iraq. And they started out for the promised land. And they're given a promise that they're going to have a son who's going to become a nation, the Jewish nation, which would give to us a Messiah, a Savior, whose name is Jesus. Terah is the one who started out carrying

his family to the promised land, but the Bible says that he stopped short, that he settled. And I want you to know, God doesn't want you to settle. Hear me today. God has more. Everybody say more. God has more for you. Sarah is mentioned here, and the first thing it said about her is that she was unable to conceive. She's the first woman recorded in the Bible who dealt with infertility. Up until this point, it's just be fruitful and multiply. Be fruitful and multiply. And it would seem that no one had an issue with that until you get to the story of Sarah. Now, all the families of the earth are to be blessed through this couple, and yet this couple can't even start their own family. Think about it. God chooses to work through unlikely people. I want to encourage you today. Other couples were more fruitful than Abram and Sarah, but listen, God chose them. Let that sink in. You may think you're unusable, too broken, too weak, but God can use anyone who will live for him by faith, by faith. Sure, there were times that they doubted. Sure, there were times that they questioned. Sure, there were times that they wondered whether or not this promise would ever come true, but listen to me. The promise, all the promises of God are yesterday men in Christ Jesus. In fact, Spurgeon said this, I have thumbed my Bible many a year. I have never yet thumbed a broken promise. Isn't that good? No, you're not going to find a broken promise. Well, their story starts out, number one, the promise, but then, oh my, the problems, plural. The problems, we're going to read about it. We're going to pick up in Genesis 16. Now, Sarah, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. Now, they'd been promised you're going to have an entire nation, and yet they have no children, but she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 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, and Abram agreed to what Sarah said. Well, they had been promised they were going to have a child. Now, you know when you get the news you're going to have a child, what's the first thing you do? You start preparing, right? You get that nursery ready. You start buying stuff. Nine months pass, nothing. Two years pass, nothing. Ten years pass, and nothing, and so they got tired of waiting. Have you ever been there? Tammy and I moved here 20 years ago from a town of 1,000. Can I just tell you in a town of 1,000, a small population you don't wait as much as you do among 1.8 million people. All we do in Hampton Roads is wait. We wait on the bridge lift. We wait on the traffic in the tunnel. It says keep

moving, people. Keep moving. You don't slam on brakes. The sign doesn't say slam on brakes. I don't get it. And have you noticed when you go out to eat, you've got to let them out and wait to find a parking place. You've got to wait to get in and get a table. You've got to wait to get a menu. You've got to wait to order drinks. You've got to wait to order an appetizer. You've got to wait to order your food. You wait for your food. And then if you order dessert, you've got to wait for that. And then you wait for the bill. And then you wait to pay the bill. And yet the person who serves you the whole time, they call him the waiter. Hello, we're the waiters. Amen. We're waiting the whole time. Nobody likes to be in God's waiting room. They decided to answer their own prayer. They decided to help God out. Have you ever been there? They're leaning on their own understanding. No prayer is mentioned. No consulting God. Just chaos. And so instead of Abraham saying, honey, I don't think this is right. is a good idea. He agreed to it. He used these two words, yes, dear. If that's what will make you happy, dear. Did it make her happy? Talk to me. No, not at all. Sin never turns out the way you planned. And I want to say it again, marriage cannot, I repeat it, cannot revolve around a child, having a child or not having a child. Well, we pick up in the story in verse four, he slept with Hagar, she conceived. And when she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarah said to Abraham, you are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. She blamed it all on her husband. She said, it's all your fault. You know, it is unbelievable here. He ends up with two wives. That is one too many. There's division in their home. The word division means two visions. And I'm telling you, moms and dads, listen, you can't have two visions in the home. You've got to be united. Same way in a church. A church can't have two visions or you have division. No, a husband and wife, a father and a mother have to just unite around one vision. As a church, you have to unite around one vision. We are in the process of rolling out a new seven year vision for our church. And when you're contacted between now and the end of the year and invited to come hear the vision, I hope your answer will be yes. And I hope that you'll unite with us around it. Because if not, you just have division. Two visions. No, you want God's vision. You have to be united together. Can I have an amen? Well, Hagar's child is called Ishmael. And you know the story. Sarah in her old age is going to have a miracle child named Isaac.

And there's this sibling rivalry going on. We will read in the story where Ishmael mocks, makes fun of Isaac. And the conflict that we see on the news and we read about in the Middle East, it all starts right here. Ishmael is the father of the Arabs. And Isaac is the father of the Jews. And we know that when there's a new baby in the house, an older child can feel threatened. They can feel insecure. Just a side note, Muhammad, 2,200 years after Mount Moriah. Let me say it one more time. Muhammad came along and 2,200 years after the story of Mount Moriah, he rewrites history, writes another book called the Quran and put in it that it wasn't Isaac that was sacrificed. It was Ishmael. Did you know that insecurity will make you want what's not yours? Now, salvation and redemption came through Isaac. It came through the Jewish people. It comes through Jesus. There's only one way to be saved, and his name is Jesus. But don't for one minute think the Arabs are not blessed. No, they are descendants of Abraham, and God promised to bless the Arabs, and he did. In fact, we're going to read in this story, he's going to move Abram's name to Abraham. He's not just going to be the father of a nation, but the father of nations, plural. And do you know that it actually happened? You can look it up for yourself. There are 22 Arab states, almost 500 million Arabs in the world. There is one Jewish state, almost 15 million Jews in the world. Did you know God keeps his promise? He became the father of nations. Now, I think there's a huge discrepancy there between 490 million, almost 500 million, versus 15. Did you know before World War II that there were 17 million Jews in the world? What happened? Persecution, Holocaust. And yet, I tell you today, all that we see goes back to this story right here. And listen, God keeps his promises. And I want you to know he loves the Arab people just like he loves the Jewish people because Jesus is the Savior of the world. Can I have a good amen? Amen. Numerous nations, we see it. But in all of that, it only encourages us because it means there are no perfect families. Every family has its issues. We know that Noah got drunk. Moses committed murder. David committed adultery. Peter denied our Lord. Hagar in this story runs from her situation. Running will never solve your problem. Listen, when she did run from God, God revealed himself to her as the God who sees. Some of you need to hear that today on this Mother's Day.

God sees you. He sees that single mom. He sees your family and your situation, and he's seen it all, he's heard it all, and praise God, he can handle it all. Put your hands together and praise God. It doesn't matter how jacked up, messed up your family may be. It may be that, hey, your resume's just one failure after another, you may have dropped out of high school, you may have gone to prison, you may have had an abortion, you may have gone through a divorce, you may have lost that job, but let me tell you, God can still keep his promise to you. He can still bring his promise to you. It doesn't matter how bankrupt or barren you may be, you've got everything you need in the promises of God's word and in the person of Jesus Christ. I ask you today, do you relate with this story? She's barren. You say, well, I'm not trying to have children, and this story really doesn't relate to me. Well, let me just tell you, there are times in life you go through seasons of barrenness, times where there's like no fruit, no purpose, no passion. You go through seasons in life of waiting. Can I have an amen? Well, I ask you, is your problem looking bigger than your promise?

Hey, don't let the facts cancel out your faith. Now, wives, I want you to know that Abram listened to Sarah, and then she turned around and blamed it on him. And certainly, he had responsibility in it. He could have said no at any point here, but I just want you to know that a woman, God's given a woman an intuition that a man will never have. I just want you to say, beware that you don't use it to lead your man astray. Look at the story of Samson. Look at the story of Solomon. Women have the intuition, the wisdom, and the power to lead their man in a way that can lead them into a Hagar situation. And I want you to know here that in Galatians chapter four, you still awake, say amen. In Galatians chapter four, you still awake, say amen. Paul talks about Sarah and Hagar, and he says, for it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman, the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, it was just natural. But the son, according to the free woman, was born as the result, watch this, of a divine promise, divine promise. Now, they're symbolic, they're symbolic of law and grace. They're symbolic of the way people try to get to God, try to be saved through the law, keeping the law. And then the Bible says that it's not through the law.

The law just reveals to us our need to be saved that ultimately the only way to be saved is through grace. It's a gift from God. And I do think that it gives to us on this Mother's Day two different atmospheres, two different home lives, two different ways, if you will, of raising kids. You can raise kids based on the law, the law, the law, or you can raise kids based on grace, grace, grace. Well, which one is it? That's kind of like asking, is the church for lost people or saved people? The church is for the Lord, hello. It's for both. And there's gotta be some law in your family, and there's gotta be a whole lot of grace in your family. Let me just say, the law is about what you do. It's expectations, it's anxiety, it's pressure to perform, and it's never, ever, ever gonna be enough. And then the other is grace, and grace is not about what you do, but what God has done. Grace, here it is, Christianity is not about what you're gonna do for God. What do you mean what you're gonna do for God? God doesn't need anything. Are y'all getting anything out of this? No, we need him. It's not that he needs us. So Jesus fulfilled the law, and he paid our sin debt. And grace, everybody say grace. Grace is not that you have to, it's that you want to.

It's not that you have to, it's that you get to. I don't have to come to church, I don't have to read my Bible, I don't have to pray, I don't have to give, I don't have to witness. No, I want to. I get to, because I love him. You know, I wanna believe that I'm a better G-Daddy than I was a dad, because you're older and wiser, and all the grandparents said. You know, I love my grandfather. There's a special relationship between grandchildren and grandparents. I love my grandfather, and I wanted to be like him. He rode a bicycle, I wanted a bicycle. He wore a cowboy hat, I wanted to wear a cowboy hat. I mean, I just, I loved him, so I wanted to please him, and I wanted to be like him. to be just like him. When Abraham and Sarah finally have a child, they're grandparent age. They're really great grandparent age. And you know what? I just want you to know, in your home, in your home, find that balance between law and grace. In fact, I would say it like this. Here's the ABCs of parenting. A stands for authority. Somebody's gotta be in charge. And it's not the kids.

Somebody's gotta be in charge. Now, I could also go right here and say affection. God help us. I hear men all the time say, I never heard my dad say, I love you. You tell your kids you love them. You hug them, you show them affection. Listen, it's not just I'm in charge. No, it's I love you. And I want what's best for you. I think there's acceptance. We accept our kids. Did you know there's a difference between making a mistake and sin? Sin against the law of God. If they knock over a glass at the table, that's called a mistake. That's not a sin. All right? And yet, if they get mad and slap it across the room, now, that's probably sin. Hello, you gotta know the difference. We were with our grad children this weekend, and one of them, I guess, just wanted to see what that little button would do on the side. They hit the button, and the seat folded up. So, they're folded up over, saying, I'm sorry, G-Daddy, I'm sorry, G-Daddy. I said, you ain't got nothing to be sorry for. It was an accident.

I mean, you just, it was a mistake. It wasn't sin. Do you see the difference? And if they fall off their bike, that's a mistake. That's not sin. And so, I wanna get across to you these rules here. You accept them even when they make mistakes. You accept them even when they sin, but you don't approve of it. There's a difference. Some of you saying, I got these adult kids, and they're doing things I don't approve of. Hey, you cannot approve of what they do and still accept them and have affection for them. All right, here it is. None of that was in my notes, by the way, but that's good preaching, all right? Somebody needed to hear that. B, boundaries, boundaries. You gotta put a fence out there. You gotta give them some space to breathe, but they gotta have a fence not to go play in the road. And then, consistency. This is huge. You just gotta be consistent day in, day out, and it's hard. You get weary. They wear you down. But you just gotta be consistent, and they gotta know there's consequences

with every choice that they make, all right? And so, I'm saying that to you to say, I know you parents out there. One of you, you lean a little more rule-based, and the other one, you're all relationship-based, and you're the fun parent. And y'all gotta come together and be united, and you gotta find that balance between law and grace. And if you err, especially as they get older, err on that side of grace, all right? Err on that side of relationship. Well, pick up in chapter 17, verse one. When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him saying, I am God Almighty. That's El Shaddai. It's the first time that that word is used in the Bible, and it means nothing is impossible with God. El Shaddai, S-H-A-D is the Hebrew word for breast. When a mother is feeding her child, she's pouring her life into that child. When God says, I'll be El Shaddai, that means he wants to pour his life into you, that he will meet you right where you are. We all have to say, it's not just church, it's life, and he's gonna give them a new name here, and even though he didn't change their circumstances, he's changing them. Pick up in verse five. No longer will you be called Abram, but your name's gonna be Abraham, he added a H-A,

for I have made you a father of many nations, plural. God also said to Abram, as for Sarai, your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai. Her name will be Sarah, A-H, or H-A there, those letters. 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. Abraham fell face down. He laughed. He said to himself, will a son be born to a man 100 years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of 90? You know, they're laughing, but I think it's interesting that when he changed. The name, he added the letters H-A, ha, ha. God has the last laugh, hello. Technically, in the Hebrew, it's one letter, and it's not two letters, H-A. In the Hebrew, it's one letter, and it is the breathing mark, the breathing mark. In other words, God breathed life into them. And let me tell you what you need on this Mother's Day. You need God to breathe life into you. Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me. Breathe on me, breathe on me. Holy Spirit, breathe on me. Why? Because I'm telling you there is a gap between God's call and your capacity. I'm gonna say it again. There's a gap between God's call and your capacity.

It is beyond what Abraham and Sarah could do. We've been married 40 years. Let me tell you what we know. It's beyond what we can do. Four kids, you're not able to do that on your own. Miscarriages, the death of a child, you're not able to do that on your own. A brain tumor that's inoperable, you can't do that on your own. You think about demands of ministry, the care of the churches, we can't do that on our own. So God wants you to be in a place where you realize you can't do it on your own. Apart from him, you can do how much? Nothing, nothing. That's a good place to be today. You say, I just can't do this. Great, then you're in a position where God can breathe life into you and you can do it through him. You know, I think about this. They messed up a lot. I mean, Abraham lied, Sarah's manipulating. Both of them are laughing and have no faith and yet they both end up in the hall of faith. They don't encourage everybody today. Hey, even when they messed up, God came back to them and they heard the voice of God and he changed their name. And when it says here that Abram laughed,

I want you to know, she does the same thing. In Genesis 18, I'll surely return to you about this time next year. Look at your neighbor and say, about this time next year. Look at your neighbor and say, this time next year. Sarah, your wife, will have a son. Now, Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah, everybody say it. Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, after I am worn out and my Lord is old, will I now have this pleasure? I want you to get this. They both laughed, they both sinned, they both messed up. Listen, they got zero faith. But faithful is he who called you, who also will do it. You may be here today and you say, man, I just don't have any faith. I just can't believe, I'm just at the end of myself. That's all right, Jesus is called faithful and true. I want to encourage you today, even in Ephesians 2, God brought this to my mind. For by grace are you saved through faith. Did you hear that? Through faith, through faith. Listen to the next words, and that not of yourself. It's a gift from God. Even faith is a gift from God.

You say, I got no faith. Abraham and Sarah didn't have faith either, but yet they're in the faith hall of fame. God gave them faith and God will give you faith today. Now we got two problems. There's two problems in every marriage. The first one's the husband, the second's the wife, amen. Listen, they got two problems. Here, she has passed childbearing years and her husband is very old. When the Bible says you're very old, you ancient, all right? You know what that means? It means his get up and go has gotten up and went. And so they got real problems going on here. But oh, listen, what happened? To show you what happened, I don't have time to preach it, but something happened between chapter 16 and 21. First of all, they saw the power of God fall on Sodom and Gomorrah. And then number two, in chapter 20, God calls every woman in an entire kingdom not to be able to conceive. To prove to Sarah, God controls who conceives and who doesn't, who has a baby and who doesn't. And so I want you to know Sarah's 90 years old and all of a sudden she's having cravings. She's in the tent and she said, I need some dill pickles and peanut butter. Abraham, I need you to run down to the.

Quick stop. Miss Tammy, I never will forget it. The first time she was pregnant, it was Arby's roast beef sandwiches, my soul. We ate Arby's every day. Taylor ought to love Arby's, I'm just telling you. And then I remember after that, it was lemons. She just wanted raw lemons. And then after that, it was ice cream, and I'm still having those cravings myself, amen. Hey, the problems are gonna be there, but the promise is bigger than the problems, and that brings me to my last point, the provision. Pick up here in chapter 21, verse one. Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said to her, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 25 years passed, all those days of waiting, all those days of wondering, and yet little Isaac was born. His name means laughter. You know, Zachary and Tori, they had two little boys stillborn, and after we buried them, then God gave them another little boy named Isaac, and he lives up to his name. That child is grinning from ear to ear. He's laughing all the time. And I just think about what it must have been like for Abraham and Sarah to have their little Isaac. My grandfather would sing a little song to all of us,

to his children, then his grandchildren, a tiny turned-up nose. He'd put us on his knees, and he'd sing this, a tiny turned-up nose, two cheeks just like a rose, so sweet from head to toe, that little boy of mine, and if it was a girl, he'd sing it, that little girl of mine. No one will ever know what his coming has meant, but I do love him so. He's something heaven has sent. He's all the world to me. He climbs up on my knee. To me, he'll always be that little boy of mine, and I'm telling you, that's exactly the way it was with Abraham and Sarah. Can you imagine how spoiled Isaac was? Oh, just spoiled rotten, but I want you to know that God, listen, God asked them to do the unthinkable, to take that promised child, the one through which they would be an entire nation, to take him up on Mount Moriah and sacrifice him back to God. In fact, that's where we first see the name Jehovah-Jireh, the God who provides. Look at it, Genesis 22, 13. Abraham looked up, and there was a thicket. He saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram, sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the place the Lord will provide.

The provision, everybody say the provision. Provision comes from two Latin words, pro that means ahead, vision that means to look, and God's always looking ahead of you. Now watch me. There's a mountain called Mount Moriah, and on this side, Abraham and Isaac are going up, and he's gonna sacrifice his only son, the son that he loves. I'm gonna read it to you in a second, and at the same time that they're going up this side of the mountain, God's got an angel. He's running that ram up to the top of that mountain. We got an on-time God, and it says that a ram got caught in a thicket. Have you ever noticed a ram's horns are curved? God made a ram's horns so it won't get caught in a thicket. It's not natural, but God made a bush that would hold that ram, hallelujah, and I want you to know that God provided exactly what they, listen, the provision. The Lord will provide, and I want you to see how it all points to Calvary. It all points to the cross. Just listen as I read it. Now, it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham. Let me tell you, faith that can't be tested can't be trusted. God will test your faith.

Did you hear me? God will test your faith. Now, it came to pass after these things, God tested Abraham and said, Abraham, he said, here I am. Then he said, take now your son, your only son. Well, he's got another son named Ishmael who's about 15 years older, but he said, no, you know which one? The only son, Isaac, whom you love. That's the first time the word love's mentioned in the Bible. What does the Bible say? For God so loved the world, he gave his only, only son. It all points to Jesus. It says, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there's a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you, and Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, took two of his young men. And Isaac, his son, he split the wood for the burnt offering, arose and went to the place of which God had told him. So Abraham took the wood. and the burnt offering, and he laid it on Isaac, his son, who's a teenager, and that means teenagers ought to have responsibility. They need a little bit laid on their back. They ought to be taking out the trash

and cutting the grass. Teenagers need responsibility, all right? It says, and he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and the two of them went together, but Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father. He said, my father, here I am, my son. He said, look, the fire and the wood, but where's the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, my son, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. So the two of them went together. I want you to know, Moriah is the very same mountain as Mount Calvary, and all of it points to Jesus. They go with two men. Jesus was crucified between two men. The wood was laid on Isaac. The cross was laid on Jesus, and there on Mount Moriah is where the temple was built, and day after day, you know, we sing that song, day and night, night and day, let incense arise. Day after day, they would have sacrifice after sacrifice, but all of those, listen, the blood of bulls and goats couldn't take away sin. It all pointed to Jesus, who is the once and for all sacrifice for sin. And so it all points to the cross, and it all points to Jesus, and what he was really asking Abraham was this. He was saying, will you do for me

what these pagans are doing for their gods? He said, well, you do it my way and do what I ask you to do. God was really asking Abraham, will you let me do for you what you can't do for yourself? You see, he provided a ram and a thicket. What did they place on Jesus's brow? A crown of thorns from the thicket. I'm telling you, all of it points to Jesus. So the story on this Mother's Day doesn't end, oh, Sarah had a baby and everybody lived happily ever after, end of story. No, the story ends like this. Being a parent is costly. Being a parent is costly. So will you trust God to provide for your needs? Will you lay your Isaac on the altar? Isaac meant everything to Abraham and Sarah. Our children mean everything to us, but we have to remember that they are alone from God. So motherhood is this, you gotta release your child to God. You have to release control. Mothership is not ownership, it's stewardship. What do you hold him back from God? Isaac represented all of their hopes and dreams. Can you place your hopes, your dreams, your health, your career, your spouse, your children, your education, job, retirement, everything on the altar? Listen, he's the God who provides,

he'll take care of your earthly needs. And ultimately he's taking care of our eternal needs. Watch this. Then on the third day, what day? Third day, Abraham lifted his eyes. He saw this place so far off. Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey, the lad, and he's a teenage boy, so don't let that throw you off. And I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you. It's the first glimpse we get of the resurrection in the book of Genesis. And remember, we're really studying Hebrews 11, so look at how it is. By faith, Abraham, when he was a young man, by faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises, offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, in Isaac your seed shall be called, concluding, watch this now, oh, don't miss it, concluding that God was able to raise him up even from the dead. On this Mother's Day, I wanna remind you that we worship and love the God who raises the dead. He brings dead things back to life. And you may feel like your hopes and dreams are dead, that your marriage is dead, maybe a relationship with a child is dead. I want you to come to the altar today and pray,

and I want you to cry out to God today, knowing that he brings dead things to life. You may have a prodigal son or daughter, and you're worried about their future. Let me tell you, God can bring them to life. You may need joy. It may be your own story that God needs to bring to life today. But I leave you with what God. God said to Abraham and Sarah, is anything too hard for the Lord? No. Here it is. On this Mother's Day, you leave church knowing He sees. He sees you. Number two, He's more than enough. And number three, He will provide for you everything you need in this life and in the life to come. Bow with me for prayer. It all comes down to a matter of trust. Who are you putting your trust in, yourself? That'd be foolish. Make sure your trust is in the living God. Just pray something like this. Say, God, I can't do this on my own. And I know I can't save myself. Jesus, I believe you fulfilled the law, that you lived a perfect life, that you died on the cross to pay for my sin. And right now, I'm asking you to be my Lord and my Savior.

I give you my life. Thank you for giving your life for me. I choose your way over my way. And I pray that you'll help me to follow you in faith and trust you with everything. In Jesus' name, and everyone said, amen. Come on, can we rejoice with all of you who just prayed that prayer for the first time? Whether you're online or right here in person in one of the forum right there online, I want you to stand all over this place. We're entering into the most important moment in this entire service, the moment where we can respond to the message that God's spoken. And I wanna ask you, what has God said to you today? Has he encouraged you in a season of parenting? Has he challenged you in a season where your faith is being tried and tested? It's such a gift when we get to the place where we know we can't do it without him. And we're gonna open the altar for a time of response. I'd love for you to come pray, surrender whatever season that you're in to the Lord. I'm gonna invite some of our staff down front. We'd love the opportunity to be able to pray with you about whatever God's spoken. I wanna pray for us all now. And we're gonna go into a time of worship and response and you need to do whatever the Lord calls you to do.

You need to surrender to him. You need to give your life over to him. Do not leave this place today without knowing for sure that you're right with God. I wanna pray for you right now. Holy Spirit, I trust that you're already speaking, giving people clarity about the steps that they should be taking, about what you're calling them to. And I'm asking right now in the name of Jesus that every person in this place that does not know you would come to know you even now. I pray that people would not leave this place without knowing that they're right with God, that their sins have been forgiven without putting their faith and trust in him. God, I pray that you'd give people courage to come surrender in the altar, to lay down their burdens, their cares, even their children to you. And I pray you'd give people the courage to step out in faith, to come talk to someone, to take a step toward you this morning. God, would you do what only you can do in these final moments together? In Jesus' holy, precious name we pray, amen. Let's worship and respond together. ♪ Jesus, Jesus how I trust Him, how I've proved Him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus precious Jesus, oh for a grace to trust Him more. How I trust You Jesus.

Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word. ♪ His Word, just to rest upon His cross ♪ ♪ Just to know the Savior Lord ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him ♪ ♪ How I've proved Him o'er and o'er ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, for grace to trust Him more ♪ Oh, we trust in Jesus. ♪ Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him more ♪ ♪ Yes, it's sweet to trust in Jesus ♪ ♪ Just from sin and self you see ♪ ♪ Just from Jesus can be taken by faith ♪ ♪ And joy and peace ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him ♪ ♪ How I've proved Him o'er and o'er ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, for grace to trust Him more ♪ Liberty family, thank you so much for joining us for church this morning. We hope that God spoke to you through today's message. And if today was the first day that you accepted Christ or took a next step in your faith, we'd love to hear about it. So fill out our online connection card. You can scan this QR code right here on the screen and let us know what decision you made. And if today was the first day that you accepted Christ, we wanna come alongside you in this new faith journey. So fill out that card, write Bible in box one,

and we will send you a free Bible. Don't forget to check out our events page and get your kids and students signed up for kids week and student camp. And make sure you follow us on social media to get updates all throughout the week and some encouraging content. We can't wait to see you right back here next Sunday. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Now lets clean up! Make sure to come back for part two! ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶

🎶 🎶