by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
I. Events happen in our lives that you could call defining moments<\/p>\n
A. It is when we must make a hard choice. Ultimately, the choice defines who we are.<\/p>\n
B. A moment of courage, when someone is saved.<\/p>\n
C. A moment of conviction when we stand up for God and truth<\/p>\n
D. The challenges we face in life as Satan tempts us away from our faith.<\/p>\nII. But tonight, let us think about the times in between. The times filled with day-to-day\nroutine.\n A. Our whole life is not one challenge after another. Instead, most of it is boring\nroutine.\n B. Think of Abraham. He lived 175 years. Out of all those years, we only have a\nhandful of events that occurred in his life between the ages of 75 and 140.\n 1. We know of some the challenging mountain-tops which demonstrated\nAbraham’s faith, but when you add up the days in the events we actually\nonly see very few.\n 2. What about the hundreds of calm days in between that were flat and\nuneventful?\n
3. How did Abraham live during the gaps when he did not hear from God?<\/p>\n
C. There are hints<\/p>\n
1. Genesis 12:8 – He built an altar and worshiped God<\/p>\n
2. Genesis 13:18 – He built an altar and worshiped God<\/p>\n
3. Genesis 21:33 – He called on God<\/p>\n
4. These define how Abraham spend the quiet moments.<\/p>\n
III. Not all of life is mountain tops<\/p>\n A. What we do with the time we have between, the time we have the most of, defines\nwho we are.\n B. It is how we spend our time during the quiet moments that tell how we will react\nduring the short, critical moments.\n C. I Peter 3:8-13 – Spending time doing what is right, prepares us for what Peter then\nmentions – persecution.\n
D. Are you using your time to prepare? – Proverbs 8:32-35<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I. Events happen in our lives that you could call defining moments A. It is when we must make a hard choice. Ultimately, the choice defines who we are. B. A moment of courage, when someone is saved. C. A moment of conviction when we stand up for God and truth D. The challenges we face…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[32],"tags":[763,41],"class_list":["post-61894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","tag-decisions","tag-life"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16539,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-have-a-say-in-whom-we-choose-as-a-spouse\/","url_meta":{"origin":61894,"position":0},"title":"Does God have a say in whom we choose as a spouse?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question concerning finding a wife (or husband for the woman). Does God have any say in whom we choose as our wife? Does God help us in any way such as leading us to a particular woman as if it was destined? Or does God bring\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54113,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/limping-between-two-opinions\/","url_meta":{"origin":61894,"position":1},"title":"Limping Between Two Opinions","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford The story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal is one of the most famous in the book of I Kings. Even though the direction of the book is generally downward, I Kings 18 contains a moment of spiritual triumph. However, even before the triumph takes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12189,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-things-i-can-control\/","url_meta":{"origin":61894,"position":2},"title":"The Things I Can Control","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 6:25-34 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People spend a lot of anxious time over things that are really out of their control \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A lot of teenagers worry about how tall they will be as an adult - Matthew 6:27 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Older adults begin to worry whether gray hairs are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60266,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/happiness-without-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":61894,"position":3},"title":"Happiness Without Faith","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer \"Since I've given up my faith, I'm now happy and at peace.\" This is a common type of statement we see from those who walk away from the Lord. It seems counter to the idea that true happiness and peace are found in Christ. I do not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85507,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/whats-your-choice\/","url_meta":{"origin":61894,"position":4},"title":"What\u2019s Your Choice?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson Many are avid baseball fans, but others care nothing about it. Some love to sit in a fishing boat hour after hour; this bores others stiff. Opera has its devotees; others can't stand it. Probably most would agree that baseball, fishing, and opera are not matters of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8180,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-spirit-of-offense\/","url_meta":{"origin":61894,"position":5},"title":"What is the spirit of offense?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is the spirit of offense? How do you know if you have it? Why do so many churches use this phrase against people to control them? Answer: The phrase \"spirit of offense\" is not found in the Bible. 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