Forsaken by God: A sermon on the word forsaken

A sermon on the word “forsaken”

 1)      For our scripture reading we heard the opening verses of Gen. 12.

2)      Abraham was told to “forsake” some things.

3)      Imagine if we were told to literally forsake the United States and go to another country.

4)      Try to imagine making this trip without a car, a moving van, or an airplane ticket.

5)      In Gen. 12 God said to Abraham, “Leave your family behind.”

6)      Go to a new country and go without your relatives.

7)      Today some have the idea that God would not require them to forsake anything.

8)      This is not what we find in Gen. 12.

9)      Someone might think to themselves, “Well, this was early in Bible history.

10)  “This was probably just a one time thing; after all, Abraham was a special character.”

a)      In Mt. 24:2-35 Jesus discussed the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

b)      Jesus said there would be signs that helped people identify when Jerusalem would be destroyed.

c)      Beginning in verse 36 Jesus spoke of His next and final return.

d)     In verse 36f there are no signs; here Jesus taught that we cannot know the day of His return.

11)  Let’s start with verse 15 and read through verse 20 – READ

12)  Imagine being in a situation where we must forsake our home and leave behind all we own.

a)      We forsake our cars, our computers, our furniture, our pictures, our food – we abandon it all.

b)      About the only thing we are able to take with us are the clothes on our back.

c)      Moving from the book of Matthew, we turn to the book of Luke, Lk. 5.

d)     Verse 11– READ

e)      Here were men who “forsook all” to follow the Lord.

13)  Abraham was willing to forsake many things to follow the God of the Bible.

14)  Some have had to forsake their homes because of war and natural disasters.

a)      Have we ever given up one thing for the kingdom of God?

b)      Have we ever forsaken something to fulfill the will of God?

15)  Listen to Mark 10:29: 

16)  Giving up things we want or things that interest us is not the American way.

17)  Lk. 5 says there were men who gave up “all” – these men literally gave up a business for Christ.

a)      If we were a business owner, would we be willing to forsake (give up) our business for our faith?

b)      If we are a homeowner, would we be willing to give up our house if that were required?

c)      Would we give up our car and our other possessions for the sake of Christ.

d)     Jonah – God called on this prophet to forsake some things.

e)      God told him to go preach but Jonah forsook this divine mission.

f)       Jonah needed to forsake his prejudices against the people of Nineveh.

18)  Judg. 10:10 says the children of made a confession to God.

19)  The Hebrews said they had “Forsaken God” to serve a false deity.

20)  God told the people of Israel that because they had forsaken Him He would forsake them.

21)  In Jn. 6:66-67 we learn that “many” of Jesus’ disciples “walked no longer with Him.’ 

a)      Today people can still forsake God.

b)      Sometimes this forsaking takes the form of attendance.

c)      Today some forsake New Testament Christianity for some other religious group.

d)     Some forsake services for t.v. or something else.

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e)      Are we “forsaking” some things?

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