Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: He is with us.
Merry Christmas.
God is with us.
Merry Christmas.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: Welcome Back to the NextGen Advent podcast. Today we are going to be exploring Altar Call and what does it even mean to have an altar and what that looks like? I have two special guests with me today, and they're going to help us dig into this topic. So will you go ahead and introduce yourself? What is your first name and your grade?
[00:00:32] Speaker C: I'm Elliot. I'm in 11th grade.
[00:00:34] Speaker D: I'm Cora. I'm also in 11th grade.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: I appreciate you guys being here with me today. And so, Elliot and Cora, as we look at Christmas time, what are you most looking forward to about Christmas?
[00:00:47] Speaker C: I really like the songs and singing with people, and I like making gingerbread houses.
[00:00:56] Speaker B: Ooh, I like that, too. All right, Cora.
[00:00:58] Speaker D: I like being with my family and being able to just cherish that time off of school and be able to really, like, soak that in.
[00:01:08] Speaker B: Right. Isn't off of school just the best time of school? Yes.
I'm excited for you guys to be off school, too. All right. And so we are really looking at the understanding of, like, with us, God is with us, being with other people. And so what is one thing at Christmastime that is better to do with people than to do on your own?
[00:01:27] Speaker C: What do you think eating, having big meals with people is just like? I don't know, it's like you eat a meal by yourself, but you get together with all your family and you eat and you come around a table and you can talk about things that are fun and. Yeah, that's better with people.
[00:01:43] Speaker B: It is. That's true. Cora, how about you?
[00:01:45] Speaker D: I would say, like, playing games with each other. Cause, I mean, I guess you can't really play a game by yourself.
[00:01:51] Speaker B: You can solitaire. That's the thing.
[00:01:52] Speaker D: That's true. There are games by themselves, but that's not fun.
[00:01:56] Speaker B: Yeah. What's your favorite game to play with people, like, around Christmas time?
[00:01:59] Speaker D: My family always plays this game, Big Boss, Little Boss. And it's just really fun, and I'm not very good at it, but it's okay.
[00:02:06] Speaker B: I'll have to familiarize myself with that one. It sounds fun. All right. One of the questions I've been asking everyone so far this season is when you imagine that God is with you, where do you imagine that he is, and what is he thinking about you?
[00:02:19] Speaker C: I think I imagine he's, like.
Well, in my brain. When I see, like, a picture of myself, he's, like, right next to me, and, like, whatever I'm going through, he's like, always by my side, like, in my brain. It's literally. But like.
[00:02:35] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So, like, it's an actual thing, right? He's, like, physically present next to you, by your side and with you. And almost, like you said, if you took a picture of it or if he had a picture of it, you're like, yeah, I would see him right there.
[00:02:45] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:02:45] Speaker B: Yep. All right. Cora, what about you?
[00:02:47] Speaker D: I would say I'd picture him as, like, surrounding me almost and like, protecting me from whatever comes my way and just like, being there.
[00:02:55] Speaker B: I love that. Okay, so let's go ahead and dig into the passage we're going to be looking at. Genesis chapter 22, verses 1 through 19. But we're just kind of going to hone in today on verse 13. Will you go ahead and read verse 13 for us?
[00:03:10] Speaker C: Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.
[00:03:19] Speaker B: All right, we just kind of had a little bit of a spoiler alert there. But here, previously, Abraham heard God's call and responded in obedience. Then between Genesis chapters 12 and 22, a lot of life happened. Abraham and Sarah became parents in their old age to a boy named Isaac. And Isaac became the seed of hope from whom a nation would be born. Can you imagine what that was like? A voice telling Abraham that he would be the father of a nation is one thing, but to have that voice keep his promise had to be mind blowing. Can you imagine the way Sarah must have looked at Isaac? The child was beloved and celebrated at every turn. That is what makes this passage so shocking to consider. The same God who had asked Abraham to follow him was now asking Abraham to offer up his son as a sacrifice.
Why did God do this? I'll be honest, it's always confused me too. Abraham was being asked to display his faith in the God of the universe. He knew God was good and would provide, so he did exactly what God asked him to do. God stepped in and provided a replacement sacrifice at the right moment.
Genesis 22 clearly points us to the cross and Jesus. Do you see God pointing to his plan of salvation all the way back in the time of Abraham? A perfect sacrifice standing in the place for another, given as an offering to God. Just as God provided for Abraham, he provided Jesus for us. So ladies, help me think through this. Let's take a moment and to be able to review some of the specific details of how we see that Abraham was obedient to God's request. And where are the times that you see Abraham's faith on display?
[00:04:55] Speaker C: I think the big thing is when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, I feel like if I was asked to do that, I would be like, no, I'm not going to kill my son.
[00:05:07] Speaker B: And you just gave this son to me, and now you want him to be dead. That's so confusing.
[00:05:12] Speaker C: Yeah. But I think even though it sounds hard, I feel like Abraham was such a faithful person that it was obviously hard for him. But he was like, I know whatever plan you have, God is going to be better than my plan that I have. So he was like, I'm going to do whatever you tell me to do, even if it's not what I would want.
[00:05:35] Speaker B: And it's awkward. Like, this whole situation, I just think about this all the time. Like, this is just an awkward situation. Like, if you're Isaac, you're like, I'm sorry, what?
[00:05:42] Speaker C: I would be like, you're about to kill me right now.
[00:05:44] Speaker B: Right? Like, that's pretty much me and you. So that's really awkward. Right. All right, so what are some other ways we see Abraham's faith on display?
[00:05:51] Speaker D: I would say he really didn't ask questions like, doubting. Like, I'm sure he was like, doubting, but he was also like, he knows what's best, and I'm sure he'll provide a way out if that's his plan for me. And I feel like when he saw the rem, he was like, that was God's plan. He was, like, here and trying to test me and help me grow in my faith.
[00:06:16] Speaker B: I love that because I think when I read this story, I automatically put all these questions and doubts into it. But you're right. Like, when you look at that, you're like, that's actually not in there. That's just what I'm, like, inferring onto it, like, the situation. Abraham's faith is on display because he just proudly, like, walks forward because he's got such, like, a trustworthy trust in what God is doing. And I think you're exactly right. When he sees the ram, he's probably not shocked. He's like, yep, I knew you were up to something. Right? Like, I knew you were good. So it seemed like God asked Abraham to do the unthinkable, but in reality, God was testing Abraham's faith. When has God tested your faith in unexpected ways and tell us a little bit about the outcome?
[00:06:51] Speaker C: I think for me, when God tested my faith is when I went on a mission Trip to Mexico in the summer. And I saw a lot of the ways that people lived in places other than where we live, where it's really dirty and not put together and it's very chaotic, and people's houses aren't really made of things you should ever make houses out of.
But for me, that was kind of like, why would God let people that he loves live like this and, like, in this type of situation and with this type of, like, hardship and poverty and stuff like that?
[00:07:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:31] Speaker C: But then I think the outcome, I was like, I got to see the way the ministries around those areas, got to work with them. And a lot of the stories of people going through that turned out to, in the end, be like, their testimony. And it was like, that's how I got from a place of hardship. And, like, God made that into, like, something I was thankful for. And, like, I got to see people who were thankful for just whatever they had, like, that day. And so I think God uses those situations for his glory and for his overall plan for those people's lives. Even though in the moment I was like, why would he ever let this happen?
[00:08:17] Speaker B: It's confusing, right? Yeah. Cora, how about you?
[00:08:20] Speaker D: I would say these past few years, we've definitely had a lot of change in our youth group, and we lost some, like, really important people that we cared about. And my first thought was, why is God doing this? Like, doesn't he know I'm going to struggle through this? And, like, this is bad for me, but now coming out of it, I'm just like, this was such, like, a beauty from ashes, like, thing, because we just got amazing people. And it's, like, grown my faith a lot.
[00:08:49] Speaker B: Amen. Right. And so you see that the outcome is that it stretched you and then it grew you. Right. And then you're able to see, like, God show up in different ways than maybe if those same people had just stayed in those same positions and what that looks like. Thank you guys for your answers and just processing that with us.
And so sometimes we see that, like, anywhere in our life can really be an altar. And we begin to see that in its simplest form, an altar is a place where we offer up our life to God. And so I would just love for our listeners. And we've been thinking, talking through this here today in the studio, too, about. We're thinking about things that in our life that at times we might selfishly consider more valuable than our relationship with God, either physically or some sort of representation. We want to be able to offer these things up to God. And so late process with me. What are some things that come to your mind when you're like, you know what? Sometimes it's really tempting for me to think that this is more valuable than my relationship with God.
[00:09:42] Speaker C: I think for me, in being a junior in high school, it's like, almost college, but also not almost college. So you're basically working on getting your grades to be at the right place where colleges can look at them and be like, oh, yeah, like, I want them to come here, but you're not, like, at that point yet.
So I think I focus on grades a lot more than I focus on God sometimes. And I'm like, if I can get my grades good, then I will be a good person. And I will be like, I'll be liked more, and I'll be more successful in life. And I'll be like, yeah, just successful. But that's not really how it works in, like, God's world. He's like, no, like, if you put me first, then all the things will follow after that. And so, yeah, I think giving that up to God and saying, like, God's in control of what's gonna happen in the future, and, like, my grades aren't gonna determine whether I'm successful in my life or not.
[00:10:47] Speaker B: Right. Like, the Lord. The Lord's gonna do that. Right. Cora, how about you?
[00:10:53] Speaker D: I think I focus a lot on the future and, like, what it holds for me and, like, how my decisions affect that. And, like, especially with school and, like, thinking through, like, oh, if I want to do this, then I need to get good grades. And, like, I just can think of all the times I've stayed up super late doing things, and I'm like, I don't have time to read my Bible right now, and that's not good. And I definitely need to work on that.
[00:11:20] Speaker B: Yeah. So you begin to see, like, sometimes I, like, rationalize that or I see what that looks like. Right. And you're like, no, like, I want to be able to make sure that that is a priority and that my relationship with God is a priority in that, too. I love it. And so we're just praying for our listeners today that you have the opportunity to be able to think through your life and maybe some things that sometimes you consider more valuable than your relationship with God. And to consider, what would it look like to offer these things up as a sacrifice and to be offered them up to the Lord to be able to be like, no, actually, I don't want anything more than I want.
And so that's Just what we're praying for our listeners at home and for us here, too, as we're talking through this. So will one of you just go ahead and close us in prayer that we would just be able to offer up these things to the Lord as a sacrifice?
[00:11:59] Speaker D: Yeah, I can.
Dear God, thank you for this day. Thank you for Christmas.
I pray that everybody is having a great season, and I pray that you will help us implement this lesson into our daily lives and that we can put you at the forefront and that we know that our identity doesn't change based on what we're doing. And I pray that we will trust you through hard times and that it. Yes. That we can see how it shows our fruit and in Jesus name, amen.
[00:12:31] Speaker B: Amen. All right, can you guys close our podcast today by wishing our listeners a Merry Christmas together?
[00:12:37] Speaker C: Merry Christmas.
[00:12:39] Speaker B: All right. Merry Christmas. We'll see you back here again tomorrow.
[00:12:56] Speaker A: Star is shining, angels sing Our Savior born the hope he brings in a manger the king has come God with us the Holy one Through the silence light breaks through a tiny child A promise true in the stillness heaven's near God with us we shall not fear he is with us Merry Christmas.
God is with us Merry Christmas.
He is with us.
Merry Christmas.
God is with us.
Merry Christmas.
