It's Youth Sunday for February here at Mission Baptist Cincinnati and Associate Pastor Kurt Lemke continued his series through Genesis with a message entitled: "A Warning For Lot" from Genesis 14:11-24. Pastor began with a review of the last message from Genesis and now He'll focus on Lot, Abraham's nephew. He followed this by the reading of the text verses for the sermon. He prayed for the Holy Spirit to speak through him for this important lesson. The message begins with the an overview of regional warfare all around Israel. The countries surrounding Abraham's newly formed nation were battling. The Jews stayed out of the conflicts until Abraham's wayward nephew who chose to live in Sodom was swept up in the capture of that city. Abraham acts to help his nephew by force.
• Those In DANGER
Abraham recognized that his beloved nephew was in danger and he did something about it. Even though Lot made bad decisions that put him harms way, his wise uncle acted to save him from harm. We as Christians should also do everything in our power to reason with our family members who are not followers of Jesus. We need to get out of our comfort zone to act on their behalf. We need to make sure they are shown a biblical example of a christian and given (in a loving way) the gospel even when they completely reject the message. It's a blunt message...If members of your family are not born-again Christians they are in REAL DANGER of hellfire! We can't just cruise along living like the world and saying we are a christian and expect God to answer our prayers for our family. The world sees back-sliden christians and laughs. They believe you are either fake or a hypocrite. If we obey God and strive with our family members to get saved, the Holy Spirit will also help their carnal friends to find Christ as well!
• God's WARNINGS
Lot made a choice to live among wicked sinners in an evil city...Sodom. We find no evidence that Lot was trying to influence citizens of Sodom to have a relationship with the Lord. It's obvious that Lot was ignoring the influence of his uncle Abraham and living life on his own terms. (Genesis 13:10-13) Lot disputed with Abraham over land and wealth and Abraham essentially asked him to choose a place other than with his uncle. Lot separated himself from his uncle and chose a place he thought was better than Abraham's land! Many times our sin leads parents to lay down the law and if we aren't right with God we are enticed by sin to move away from godly parents (or pastor and church) and we suffer the consequences! Don't let that happen.
• The World's TEMPTATIONS
In Abraham's dealings with the kings of pagan nations around him, we find that even though Abraham made all the right moves, obeying God in all his dealings with them, He was still having to deal with TEMPTATIONS! (Genesis 14:22-23) Is that fair? God isn't fair but he is righteous! God allows us to be tempted and this test of our faith is for our own good! The best way to ward off the devil and his wiles is to stay very close to Jesus. Abraham did this by fellowshipping with the mysterious Melchizedek, king of Salem, who is a pre-incarnate form of Jesus Christ. (Genesis 14:18, Hebrews 7:1-28)

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We invite everyone to attend our church. We carefully clean our facility before every service and provide free surgical face masks and hand sanitizer at the door. We encourage social distancing for your safety. We're located at 7595 Montgomery Road in the heart of Kenwood. Come visit us this Sunday morning beginning at 10 AM for Sunday school and 11 AM for worship service. You won't find a friendlier church in all of Cincinnati!