Genesis 24:12-21 NKJV Then he said, “O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. (13) Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. (14) Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.” (15) And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. (16) Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. (17) And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.” (18) So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. (19) And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” (20) Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. (21) And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.
This is the Word of the Lord, Amen?
Welcome to Christian Life Church, my name is Pastor Christian Shields and I am the Senior Pastor here at Christian Life Church.
- If you watched our video announcements this morning, then you know that here at CLC we have 5 driving values, 5 statements that help define us as a church.
- First, The Gospel is For Everyone
- We preach the Gospel every Sunday here and we focus a lot on missions to spread the Gospel to all nations.
- Second, We are a Place to Belong.
- We want everyone to feel welcome here.
- Third, We go all in.
- in everything we do we give it our all.
- Fourth, Everybody grows.
- From the newest believer to all of our pastors, myself included, everybody grows.
- And finally, what’s the fifth one? WE LOVE GOD’S WORD!
- And because we love God’s word, we preach through God’s word!
- What I do is I pray and seek the Lord’s will for our church and He shows me which book to preach through next. We have preached through, line by line, many different books, but you are joining us as we are right in the middle of Genesis.
- Now if you have been with us for a while then you know where we are at in Genesis.
- Abraham has been blessed by God in all things… but he is now old and well advanced in age… he is going to die soon… but he wants one more blessing for his life… a wife for his son Isaac.
- So Abraham finds his chief servant, a man of God whom Abraham can trust, and he makes this servant take an oath “Find for me a wife for my son. Take her from my people, not from the world, because God’s people marry God’s people. Go to the land I come from and bring back a wife, God will send an angel to prepare the way”.
- Now directly after making this promise Abraham’s servant sets out on the task he swore to do… and we get a luxurious 57 verses outlining the events that took place… how the servant went about fulfilling his oath and how God helped him.
- In fact, these details are outlined not just once, but twice! Every little detail.
- So as I was reading these verses in Genesis 24 what really came to life for me, and what I think God want’s us to learn from these verses, is that Abrahams servant was a good servant, he was a faithful servant… And if you have been around Christendom for any length of time, you have probably heard the phrase “Well done my good and faithful servant”. It is a phrase we all want to hear when we get to heaven “Well done my good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord”… “Well done my good and faithful servant, enter into your rest!”
- And what I realized is that I don’t think I have ever preached a series on how to be a good and faithful servant… like a series of sermons outlining the practical steps it takes to be a servant that is considered by God as “good and faithful”.
- And so, as I look at these 57 verses about Abraham’s servant being good and faithful, I think “Man, we can learn a lot from him” and thus this series was born.
- How to be a good and faithful servant, that is the series we are in, a 5 week series going over these verses and applying them to our life and our faith.
- I considered making a title slide with a black and yellow book that said “How to be a good and faithful servant for dummies”… but you guys aren’t dummies… right? Ok, most of the time… I can be a dummy too, we will get to that in a second.
- But really man, I just want to give practical life advice for how we can serve God well, that we can be good and faithful servants of our Master, Jesus Christ.
- Now this 5 week series goes over 10 attributes of being a good and faithful servant that we can see in Genesis 24, let’s take a look at all of them here for the first time:
- Now last week we talked about how a good and faithful servant is, well faithful.
- Do you guys remember what the word faithful means?
- It doesn’t mean “Full of faith”, instead it means someone that you can put your full faith in… or more simply:
- Faithful:
- You do what you say you are going to do.
- Others can put their full faith in you.
- If you are faithful then you do what you say you are going to do.
- I used the example of Pastor Mike (or Deacon Dan second service)… how if he says he is going to do something, HE DOES IT. I don’t need to make him pinky swear, I just know that he will do it.
- So a good and faithful servant is faithful, he does what he says he is going to do… just like Abrahams servant did what he said he would do.
- Second, a good and faithful servant positions himself for success!
- Abrahams servant positioned himself by a well where he know woman would come to, there he prayed “God send me the right woman… let her be the one who offers my camel a drink”.
- We talked a lot about this… we prayed for jobs and I encouraged you “Position yourself for success, a job is not going to appear out of the blue caught in a thicket… position yourself for success and apply, get interviews… give me something specific to pray for!”
- Deacon Jimmal was one of the people praying for a new job… he positioned himself for success and got a job interview and last week I prayed for him and many of you.
- Church we serve a God who answers prayers! JIMMAL GOT THE JOB! Thank you Jesus! I am continuing to pray for more miracles and testimonies like that one!
- I also gave this slightly tongue in check example “When you invite someone over for dinner, have the dinner ready! Don’t invite me over to your house for dinner and you haven’t even finished cooking the roast yet! THAT IS THE WORST! You said we are having dinner at 5:30 be faithful, position yourself for success, get the dinner done on time!”
- And it is here church that I need to stop and publicly repent… I want you to hear it from me first, because I don’t want gossip to take hold in this church.
- Guys… Thursday night I was unfaithful…
- It has never happened before and I pray it never happens again… but I had the Hazzlewoods over for dinner… and wouldn’t you know it I cooked roast… and THE ROAST WAS NOT READY WHEN THEY GOT THERE.
- IT TOOK TWO MORE HOURS TO COOK. I WAS MORTIFIED! I LITERALLY JUST PREACHED ABOUT THIS…
- We ordered pizza, the pizza was fire… I had humble pie for dessert… and I learned my lesson, a 10 pound roast takes A LONG TIME to cook.
- Next time I will better position myself for success! Everybody grows!
- This week we have two attributes to go over. A good and faithful servant is someone who relies on God and someone who stops and listens to God.
- Now that is more than enough waffling, let’s get into it! Point one: A Good Servant Relies on God
Point One – A Good Servant Relies on God
Genesis 24:13-14 NKJV Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. (14) Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”
- The servant is faithful, he immediately goes out to look for a wife for Isaac as he had promised.
- He positions himself for success, going to the well he knows women will be gathering at… he even goes at the right time of day, at the time when the woman come to water the livestock.
- This is a good start for a good and faithful servant… but a lot of dudes will stop there.
- They are at the well, the woman are coming… some dudes will stop here and take matters into their own hands… instead of relying on God they will rely on that riz factor…
- “What up baby‽ You looking for a husband? Because girl I got the man for you! Let me tell you about my masters son!”
- But this approach could be very problematic… for a couple reasons… one, he is probably going to sketch her out…
- But two… how does he know he is going to riz up the right woman? How does he know he is going to find the wife God want’s him to find.
Genesis 24:11 NKJV And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water.
- The time when “Women” go out to draw water… not the singular “woman” but the plural “women”.
Genesis 24:13 NKJV Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.
- Daughters… not daughter… but the plural daughters.
- There were multiple women… which one is the right one? Only God knew.
- If the servant would have relied on his own abilities, his own charisma… he may have gotten the wrong woman for Isaac.
- But that is not what happened, instead the servant relied on God…
- There is a sermon in here for you singles… God knows better than you do who your spouse should be.
- So there, at the right place, at the right time… positioned for success, the servant relies on God.
Genesis 24:14 NKJV Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”
- I am SURE this servant was smart and capable.
- I am sure he was well spoken, and full of Charisma.
- Without God’s help he probably could have accomplished the task he was sent out to do, and done it faithfully… but would he have done it “well”.
- I don’t want to be just a “faithful” servant, I want to be a “good” and faithful servant.
- I don’t want to just accomplish my task, I want to accomplish it well, I want the RIGHT wife for Isaac… and I can’t do that by leaning on my own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; (6) In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
- Lean not on your own understanding.
- If I leaned on my own understanding I wouldn’t be married to the most amazing wife in the world, Pastor Amanda.
- If I leaned on my own understanding little Ruthie and little Esther would not exist, I would have stopped at two kids… but praise God He knew better and now I have 4 AMAZING kids.
- If I leaned on my own understanding this church wouldn’t exist.
- I told my wife I NEVER wanted to work with Pastor Rick Seaward… but God had other plans and called us a year latter to work with him and he trained us and sent us to Cedar Rapids.
- If I leaned on my own understanding we would not be in this church building… because I didn’t want to put in an offer because it was listed at WAY too high of a price.
- OH SAINTS! What good things have we missed out on because we leaned on our own understanding?
- Shure we might have been faithful… we did what we said we were going to do… but what GOOD have we missed because we were faithful in our own strength… we were faithful with our own wisdom.
- Listen I am a smart guy! I like to think so at least… I don’t know how to cook a roast so I am not that smart… but I am a smart guy… I have lots of charisma… I can accomplish things….
- I could have built a life for myself, but it wouldn’t have been a good life… because good things come from God alone.
- You have your bibles, I want you to see a couple verses for yourself… turn to James chapter 1.
James 1:17 NKJV Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
- Every good and perfect gift is from God. EVERY GOOD AND PERFECT GIFT IS FROM GOD.
- Now stay in James 1, I have another verse I want you to see here… but lets stay on verse 17 for a minute… Every good and perfect gift comes from God.
- Somebody say “EVERY”.
- EVERY! That means if it aint from God then it aint God y’all.
- Come on, someone say “EVERY”!
- I preached on this when we preached through James… there is saying that goes around from time to time amongst churches that says “Not every good thing is a God thing”
- But that is an unbiblical statement! The heart of the statement is fine, but the letter of the statement is wrong.
- According to James 1:17 if it is not from God then it is NOT good. It might look good, but it is not good.
- A better, albeit less catchy, statement would be “Just because it looks good does not mean it is from God”.
- Listen, if I married any other woman other than Amanda, it would not have been good.
- God would redeem it, He hates divorce, so if I had married the wrong woman I would need to cry out to God to make it good… He can redeem it… but why not start good?
- If you get a job that is not the job that God has for you, it’s not good.
- It might pay the bills, fine… but it’s not good. Rely on God!
- If you start serving in a calling that is not the calling that God has for you, you might do fine work for the kingdom, but it is not good.
- God can use it, God can redeem it… but why not start good and stay good…
- And the only way to do that is to rely on God.
- Now here is the best part, you guys still in James 1? Alright, God makes Good easy for us… look at verse 5
James 1:5 NKJV If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
- If you don’t know how to get good things from God… if you don’t know how to rely on God… ASK FOR WISDOM.
- If any of us lacks wisdom… let us ask of God… God gives wisdom LIBERALLY and without reproach… Ask and it will be given.
- “God I need wisdom for how to approach this task”
- “God I need wisdom on what jobs to apply for”
- “God I need wisdom on how to talk to my wife when she is really grumpy”
- “God I need wisdom on how to feel about this situation”.
- “God I need wisdom on how to accomplish this task”.
- Here is one, this one is money “God, I don’t even know how to pray right now… my mind is racing, all seems lost… all seems hopeless… I don’t even know what to ask… Father would you give me wisdom… show me how to pray Father!”
- Now, when you start praying prayers like that you are on the right track… you are going to end up at the right well, at the right time of day… then you can pray “Father let this be the woman… the one who gives me a drink and a drink for my camels”.
- “Let this be the woman”
- “Let this be the job”
- “Let this be the house”
- “Let this be the promotion”
- “Let this be the ministry”
- Now once you get there, my fellow servants of the Lord… well then you need point two this morning…
Point Two – A Good Servant Stops and Listens
Genesis 24:15-21 NKJV And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. (16) Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. (17) And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.” (18) So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. (19) And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” (20) Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. (21) And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.
- And the man… wondering at her… remained silent so as to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not…
- He stopped… he got silent… and he listened.
- I wonder, church… when was the last time you were silent before the Lord.
- I will speak for myself, this concept is VERY hard for me to embrace.
- I am an extravert! I like to talk! My mind is always racing…
- If you have ever had a long conversation with me you may notice that sometimes you wont even be done talking about a topic before I butt in and start talking about something else.
- Lets go, let’s get this conversation moving! I got things I want to talk about!
- (P.S. sorry if I have done that to you! I am still working on it, everybody grows!).
- But this is how I treat God many times to.
- I vomit out my list of prayer request and then I get moving… there are things to do, there are mountains to climb, there are giants to conquer.
- Ain’t nobody got time to stop and listen…
- Only we do… it is imperative.
- The man remained silent, to know the will of the Lord, the main remained silent. He stopped, and he listened.
- A good and faithful servant stops and listens.
- Now if you are still in James 1, take a look at verse 19
James 1:19 NKJV So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
- Does this verse describe your prayer life?
- Are you swift to listen and slow to speak?
- I certainly hope you are slow to anger in prayer…
- But are you swift to listen and slow to speak?
- The Lord is convicting me on this one… I am so swift to speak and slow to listen…
- But a good and faithful servant stops and listens for the will of God.
- Think about the servant… He has been faithful… He has relied on God for success… He prayed “Let the woman who waters my camels also be the wife you have prepared for Isaac”.
- And here she is, a gorgeous young woman, and look, she did exactly what the servant asked God, she gave him and his camels drink… Surely she is the one, right?
- “Well” thinks the servant “Let me stop and listen… let me make sure this is who God has for Isaac. Because if she is not from God, and this is just happenstance, I don’t want her… let me stop and listen”.
Isaiah 30:21 NKJV Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.
- This is a verse about life under the Messiah, it is in a prophetic passage about Jesus.
- When we live with Christ we should hear the voice of God saying “This is the way, walk in it”.
- Jesus echoes this sentiment Himself.
John 10:27 NKJV My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
- May I offer you a suggestion?
- When things are crazy…
- Life is chaotic…
- You have a lot to do…
- Find a quite place, let your requests be known to God… then stop and listen.
- You might have to wait until after work.
- You might have to wait until the kids are asleep.
- You might have to wake up early in the morning…
- But find the time, find the space… but pray, then stop… and listen.
Matthew 6:6 NKJV But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
- Now I want to conclude with a story that happened to me recently… if we can have someone come and play.
Conclusion
- Recently I had a very important ministry meeting with a very important and influential person.
- This meeting, I thought, would be the key to us being established as a church.
- You see we have two double prophecies coming true right now…
- And one of them was prophesied years ago that we would be established as a church, and we were given a specific timeline for this…
- Two separate prophets, same prophecy, same timeline.
- Well that timeline is coming to an end, and I am waiting on something BIG to happen where I can say “Won’t God do it‽ Look how He has fulfilled this prophecy!”
- The other double prophecy is about the Good that God has in store for us is so much better than all He has done so far as a church!
- And I have always put that prophecy together with the other, believing that the moment of “establishing” whatever that is… that moment I believe will be the start of the “Good” double prophecy.
- So I had this important meeting with a man who could certainly put our church on the map… who in an instant could fulfill this double prophecy.
- Out of the blue this man asked for a meeting.
- Now coming up to this meeting I was very nervous… I was praying a lot, going over what might be said… what might be offered… what might be asked of me and the church.
- I prayed and prayed and prayed.
- I prepared and prepared and prepared.
- I was positioned for success, I was being faithful… I was EVEN relying on God…
- So I go down to my office to get ready for this zoom meeting… and as I do I notice a cabinet on my desk is open. So I close it, and as I do something falls and smashes into the ground with a unusually loud bang!
- It startled me. I look down and it is a piece of art that Kim Speight, Pastor Dick’s wife, had painted.
- I picked it up and looked at it, and this is what I saw:
Show “Be Still.jpg” in the “Images for CLC Services” folder
- You can see the crack the fall made to the frame there in the lower left corner…
- I picked it up, looked at it, and wondered… much like Abrahams servant… I stopped and wondered and listened to God.
- The meeting didn’t go as I had planned. It was a great meeting, don’t get me wrong… but it wasn’t the establishing time I thought it was going to be…
- I didn’t try to force it, I just trusted God.
- And I left the meeting at perfect peace… God has this under control, He knows what He is doing, His timing is perfect.
- I am in the right place, at the right time, doing the right things, relying on God… now my job is to obey Psalm 46:10
Psalms 46:10 NKJV Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
- Have your way Lord! Be Exalted Lord! We are here Lord! We are listening.
- Gospel Call
Join us this Sunday at either 8:30AM or 10:30AM for worship followed by this message from the Word of God.
Christian Life Church of Cedar Rapids
2808 Schaeffer DR SW,
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
www.CedarRapidsChurch.com
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