"Sunset Faith"
Pastor Albert Almore
“As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years.”
Genesis 15:12-13 NLT
“But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, AND IN THE END they will come away with great wealth.”
Genesis 15:14 NLT
“But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, AND AFTERWARD THEY WILL COME OUT with great possessions.”
Genesis 15:14 NIV
📝 Your affliction has an EXPIRATION DATE!
“AS THE SUN WAS GOING DOWN...”
Genesis 15:12 NLT
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE THE SUN IS SETTING ON YOUR PROMISE?
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE THE SUN IS SETTING ON YOUR FAITH?
I want to speak to you from this subject today…
Sermon Title: SUNSET FAITH
For the children of Israel, even though God told Abraham that He would deliver them from bondage, 400 years is a long time to wait, WHEN YOU’RE IN IT. 400 years is a long time to wait on the promise, when you’re yet to see the promise. Exodus 2:23…
“YEARS PASSED, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God.”
Exodus 2:23 NLT
I can’t help but to think that after time continued to pass, God’s people felt like the sun was going down on what they were believing God for. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN THERE BEFORE?
You believed the Word that was declared. You believed the word that was preached. You wrote it down. You hung it up at work. You hung it up in your house. You believed God with every fiber in your being. But lately you’ve been feeling like FATHER TIME is going to overcome the promise. You feel as if the sun is setting on what you’ve been believing God for. When this happens, you have to have SUNSET FAITH!
Faith that says I may be in the ninth hour, but I still trust in the Lord. Faith that says, yes it’s taken longer than I wanted it to take, but I still believe God!
By faith, I still can see it! By faith, I’m still hearing the Word of God. By faith, I’m still speaking the promises of God. By faith, I’m still holding on to the promises of God, BECAUSE I HAVE SUNSET FAITH!!! Colossians 3:2…
“SET YOUR MIND ON THINGS ABOVE, not on things on the earth.”
Colossians 3:2 NKJV
Here’s what I know about Sunset faith…
📝 Setting your mind on THINGS ABOVE, is greater than setting your mind on SUNSET SITUATIONS.
Here’s how you set your mind on things above…
📝 • Set your mind to RECALL.
“This I RECALL TO MY MIND, THEREFORE I HAVE HOPE.”
Lamentations 3:21
📝 RECALLING all that the Lord has done produces HOPE. DISREGARDING all that the Lord has done produces DISCOURAGEMENT.
“And now these three remain: faith, HOPE and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV
“But as for me, I WATCH IN HOPE FOR THE LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.”
Micah 7:7 NIV
RECALLING all that the Lord has done produces HOPE. DISREGARDING all that the Lord has done produces DISCOURAGEMENT. This is why Deuteronomy 8:2 says…
“REMEMBER HOW THE LORD YOUR GOD LED YOU through the wilderness for these forty years…
Deuteronomy 8:2 NLT
Don’t lose sight of hope. Don’t allow discouragement to set in. This is why Psalms 77:11 declares…
BUT THEN I RECALL ALL YOU HAVE DONE, O LORD; I REMEMBER your wonderful deeds of long ago.
Psalms 77:11 NLT
When the sun appears to be setting on your situation you have to…
📝 Stop REHEARSING how far YOU HAVE TO GO, and start RECALLING how far YOU’VE COME.
Remind yourself, remind the enemy, remind your situation—This is all that the Lord HAS DONE, and this is what I’m believing the Lord TO DO!
📝 Don’t allow spiritual AMNESIA to live rent free in your mind.
📝 Set your mind on Who HE IS.
📝 Set your mind on Who HE’S BEEN.
📝 Set your mind on Who HE’S GOING TO BE.
📝 God’s TO DO LIST for your life, is greater than His HAS DONE LIST for your life.
📝 When it appears as if the sun is setting on my promise from God, I will not allow my FAITH to set with it.
Therefore…
📝 • Set your mind to REJOICE.
“Praise the Lord WITH THE HARP; Make melody to Him with AN INSTRUMENT OF TEN STRINGS.”
Psalms 33:2 NKJV
“By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion. 2) WE HUNG OUR HARPS Upon the willows in the midst of it.”
Psalms 137:1-2 NKJV
“For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, And those who plundered us requested mirth, Saying, “SING US ONE OF THE SONGS OF ZION!””
Psalms 137:3 NKJV
“HOW SHALL WE SING The LORD's song IN A STRANGE LAND?”
Psalm 137:4 KJV
Strange land, situation, predicament you’ve never been in before.
THE FIRST THING THAT OFTEN GOES IS YOUR PRAISE.
📝 Turn up YOUR PRAISE instead of HANGING UP YOUR HARP!
“THIS PRAYER WAS SUNG by the prophet Habakkuk:”
Habakkuk 3:1 NLT
Beautiful song. Mighty song. This is how the song ends…. Habakkuk 3:17-18
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD, I WILL BE JOYFUL in God my Savior.”
Habakkuk 3:17-18 NIV
“…(For the choir director: THIS PRAYER IS TO BE ACCOMPANIED BY STRINGED INSTRUMENTS.)”
Habakkuk 3:19 NLT
When the sun appears to be going down on your dreams. When you find yourself, in a strange land….
Don’t HANG IT UP, instead, TURN IT UP!
“REJOICE IN OUR CONFIDENT HOPE. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.”
Romans 12:12 NLT
📝• Set your mind to RELAY.
“As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. 19) But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, AND TELL THEM EVERYTHING THE LORD HAS DONE FOR YOU and HOW MERCIFUL HE HAS BEEN.””
Mark 5:18-19 NLT
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb AND BY THE WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY...”
Revelation 12:11 NKJV
When it’s all said and done, don’t keep it to yourself. Be sure to relay His goodness. Relay His mercy. Relay His love. Relay His kindness.
Relay how He still turns GRAVES into GARDENS.
📝 People will never know all that GOD CAN DO, unless you relay all that HE’S ALREADY DONE.
After all…
📝 You don’t OWN THE RIGHTS to your story.
📝 “looking unto Jesus, THE AUTHOR and FINISHER OF OUR FAITH…”
Hebrews 12:2 NKJV
DO YOU TRUST WHAT JESUS IS AUTHORING IN YOUR STORY?
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