If you had to give the eulogy at Abraham's funeral, what would you say? How do you do justice to a life like Abraham? He lived for 175 years, was called by God into covenant with Him while living a pagan life back in Ur of the Chaldeans. And ever since then, his life was marked by faith. Abraham was the model of faith, the consummate example of faith, which led to his status as "The Father of Faith", "The Father of the Faithful", or simply, "Father Abraham." What a man.

But his faith wasn't the final word on who Abraham was! So many graces flowed from that faith! It's important to understand that Biblically speaking, faith is what pushes the levers and opens the dam of God's Great Reservoir of Grace, allowing it to come pouring into our lives.

The Grace of God appears in many different forms. We find various "catalogues" of grace listed in the New Testament: descriptions of the grace that flows into the life of a believing young person (1 Timothy 4:12); an Elder of the Church (Titus 1); a Christian wife (1 Peter 3) and so on. One of these catalogues applies well to the life of Abraham and is the outline for our eulogy today:

2 Peter 1:5-8
Make every effort to add to your faith
1 goodness; and to goodness,
2 knowledge; and to knowledge,
3 self-control; and to self-control,
4 perseverance; and to perseverance,
5 godliness; and to godliness,
6 mutual affection; and to mutual affection,
7 love.

If you'll reflect on the life of Abraham, you'll quickly see that his faith led directly to these other virtues. His faith did not stand alone like a lonely tree in the middle of a field. Abraham's faith bore much fruit - and may the Holy Spirit enable your faith to do the same!

Welcome, dearest friends, to Home Church Langley!