Hebrews 11:8
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

Genesis 12:1-7
1 The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. 2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
4 So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him

The call to leave the land of the familiar

a. Abraham had it made!

i. He was comfortable with his surroundings. He still lived in the same place, he grew up. He knew everything there was to know about the land. He knew every short cut. He played in this land as a child. He could tell you how to get where you wanted to go.
iii. He was already established. He didn’t have to wonder where he was going to live, or what he was going to do. I’m sure he had a routine. Life was easy.

b. The good thing about living in the land of the familiar is that it is comfortable, predictable and easy going. The bad thing about living in the land of the familiar is that it is comfortable, predictable and easy going. This reminds me of a poem I read.

c. Many of us have pitched of tents in the land of the familiar.

i. We become contented, We eat the same meals, at the same places. Keep the same comfortable friends, without making new ones. Sit in the same chairs at church. Give the same amount Sunday after Sunday, Doing what we have always done and getting what we always got! singing the same worship songs,
ii. Even more dangerous is when we are content to live in the land of the familiar spiritually.

iii.We become complacent.
Complacency is a blight that saps energy, dulls attitudes, and causes a drain on the brain. The first symptom is satisfaction with things as they are. The second is rejection of things as they might be. "Good enough" becomes today’s watchword and tomorrow’s standard. Complacency makes people fear the unknown, mistrust the untried, and abhor the new. Like water, complacent people follow the easiest course -- downhill. They draw false strength from looking back.

1. First we are satisfied with the way things are.

a. This is how we have always done church!
b. I have done this ministry for 30 years

2. We reject things that might be.

a. There is more to God’s plan for your life than you can imagine.
b. Have you ever hesitated to try something new because of fear of how it will turn out and then when you finally get the nerve to do it you say, “Man I should have done that a long time ago!

WHY SHOULD WE LEAVE THE LAND OF THE FAMILIAR?

I. BECAUSE LEAVING MEANS OBEYING GOD

1. God knows what is best for us, he sees all and knows all. You can trust him!

2. Our plans may seem safer, and easier but his plans are the best. Someone once said, “If you want to see God laugh tell him your plans.”

3. I believe that with God a risk is not a risk, without God a sure thing is not a sure thing.

a. And if others don’t try to talk you out of it your own mind will. Let me tell you that there is no limit to the excuses to remain in the land of the familiar.

b. God let him know why he was leaving the land of the familiar Read vs.2-3

i. I will make you a great nation…

ii. I will bless you…

iii. I will make your name great…

iv. You will be a blessing… all the people of the world will be blessed through you…

v. I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you.

II. BECAUSE LEAVING MEANS WALKING IN THE WORLD OF FAITH

In Hebrews 11: 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

a. When you step into the world of faith you may not know what lies ahead. But you know who has sent you. It is a place God will show you

b. It will be exciting to see what God has in store for you when you leave the land of the Familiar.

i. First of all Abe is you have the faith to leave everything you can have the faith to trust God for protection. God didn’t call him out of the land of the Familiar to kill him!

ii. This was a horrible mistake, a failure to trust God. Can you imagine knowing another man took your wife as his own?

iii. However we learn some important lessons from this.

1. One even the greatest men in the word of God have fallen.
2. Abe didn’t say well I blew it now; I’m going back to the land of the familiar.
3. The promise of God and the blessing of God still came to pass even though he failed.

c. Be determined you will not turn back

I like the determination of 14 year old Australian swimmer Shane Gould. When asked by a news reporter how she thought she would do in one of her early career swimming meets in the United States several years ago, 14-year-old Australian Shane Gould replied, "I have a feeling there will be a world record today." She went on to set two world records in the one-hundred- and two-hundred-meter freestyle events. When asked how she thought she would fare in the more testing, grueling, four-hundred-meter event, Shane replied with a smile, "I get stronger every race, and besides ... my parents said they’d take me to Disneyland if I win, and we’re leaving tomorrow!" She went to Disneyland with three world records. At 16 she held five world records and became one of the greatest swimmers of all time, winning three gold medals in the 1972 Olympics.

Our determination is not in our own abilities, but in what God can do! We should be even more confident that in the end we will see victory and the promises of God fulfilled.

III. BECAUSE LEAVING MEANS FULFILLING YOUR DESTINY. Deut 2:3

Deu 2:3 Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward.
Some students until not have not finish their studies because they love the school and the things that they enjoy in there.

Some are not eager to be promoted because they don’t want to get out from their land of familiar. Their friends, their habbits and they don’t want to pursue their destiny because it will take them from their comfort zone.
That is why sometimes God will pull us out from there.
Genesis 37
Joseph was led by God out of his familiar situation for his destiny to be fulfilled.

IV. BECAUSE LEAVING MEANS EXPERIENCING THE SUPERNATURAL

Mat 14:24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
Mat 14:25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
Mat 14:26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
Mat 14:27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
Mat 14:28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
Mat 14:29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
Mat 14:30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
Mat 14:31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Mat 14:32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
Mat 14:33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

To be safe always means living in the natural. Boring and dull experiences in life

Closing:
Jer 48:11 Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.

Jer 48:12 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.

You can stay in the land of the familiar, but God is calling us to the world of faith. You can do what you have, always done and get what you have always got, or you can step out and continue to grow and experience new things that God has in store for you. Has God been calling you out of your comfort zone?