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Intro:
Growing up my little brother Koleman and my dad used to play this game where my brother would jump off the stairs and my dad would catch him. And the thing about Koleman is he was always VERY confident my dad would catch him. In fact, Koleman was so confident that my dad would never let him fall that once my dad was walking by the stairs on his way to the kitchen and he just heard Koleman shout “DADDY” and he turned to see Koleman flying through the air, arms and legs stretched out like a flying squirrel. Why did they find themselves in this situation where Koleman was already mid air before my dad even saw him? Because my dad had never dropped him before and Koleman was 100% sure he wouldn’t drop him now. So sure, that he was willing to jump for it. That kind of confidence that produces action in what we call faith and tonight we are going to meet a guy who had that kind of confidence in God even when it didn’t make sense.
Tonight kicks off week 3 of our series “The Greatest Story Ever Told” where we are looking at the story of the whole Bible from 30,000 feet. Last week we basically got a spoiler for the whole story when we saw that man’s purpose was to reflect God, man’s problem is sin that separates us from God, and God’s plan to solve that problem is to send a “descendent of the woman” who will crush the enemy forever (and we know that descendent is Jesus). So for the rest of the story we are following the promise of God all the way until Jesus really does make all things new.
After Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, mankind got more and more wicked to the point where God literally wiped everyone off the planet except for a guy named Noah and his family in a massive flood. 10 generations after Noah, God made another promise like we saw in Genesis 3:15 to a guy named Abram.
Read with me in Genesis 12:1-3
Now the Lord said to Abram,
“Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household
to the land that I will show you.
Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you,
and I will make your name great,
so that you will exemplify divine blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
but the one who treats you lightly I must curse,
and all the families of the earth will bless one another by your name.”
So clearly God is telling Abram to do something pretty wild here and I want to talk about that but first I want to break down this promise God makes Abram.
God’s Promises to Abram:
Land
A Great Nation
A Great Name
Blessings/ Protection
Bless the Whole Earth Through You
Now here’s some things you need to know about Abram.
1) At this point in history you don’t just move. Your family is your lifeline, you are all sharing resources and protecting one another, you can’t just go get an apartment and find a new job, they live off the land.
2) Abram is 75 years old and he and his wife Sarah can’t have kids.
If I were Abram I know I would have argued with God. Can you imagine God just saying leave everything I will let you know when you get there? That’s terrifying! But, Abram just obeys, no roadmap, a plan that doesn’t make sense, and a yes.
So Abram and Sarah go where God tells them and he leads them to the land of Canaan which is also eventually referred to as the “Promised Land” and they settle there and 24 years pass from when God first made the promise to Abram.
When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the sovereign God. Walk before me and be blameless.Then I will confirm my covenant between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.”
Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, and God said to him,“As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer will your name be Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham because I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you extremely fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.I will confirm my covenant as a perpetual covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you.I will give the whole land of Canaan—the land where you are now residing—to you and your descendants after you as a permanent possession. I will be their God.”
One year later, when Abraham was 100 years old, his wife Sarah finally gave birth to a son, Isaac, but his story of trusting God even when it didn’t make sense did not stop there.
Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham replied. God said, “Take your son—your only son, whom you love, Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.”
WHAT?! Abraham waited 25 years for a son! He went where God told him to, how is God going to keep up his end of the bargain if he is telling Abraham to kill his son?!
But, Abraham trusted God even then and he took Isaac up on the mountain and when he was just about to sacrifice his son just as God told him to, God provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice instead.
Because of Abraham’s willingness to obey God through his faith even when it didn’t make sense he has gone down in history as one of the most faithful people of all time.
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, he received the ability to procreate, because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. So in fact children were fathered by one man—and this one as good as dead—like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand on the seashore.
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son. God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,”and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there.
So what do we learn from the story of Abraham?
Faith Obeys Even When We Don’t Have All the Details
Faith Obeys Even When We Don’t Have All the Details
Faith Obeys Even When the Plan is Different Than Our Preference
Faith Obeys Even When the Plan is Different Than Our Preference
The Foundation of Walking By Faith is KNOWING God Can and Will Fulfill His Promises
The Foundation of Walking By Faith is KNOWING God Can and Will Fulfill His Promises
For every one of God’s promises are “Yes” in him; therefore also through him the “Amen” is spoken, to the glory we give to God.
Discussion Questions:
Discussion Questions:
What stood out to you about tonight’s lesson?
What did Abram have to leave behind when God told him to move? How do you think you would do if God asked you to do the same thing?
In what ways did God test Abraham’s faith when it came to his son, Isaac?
What can we learn from Abraham’s obedience to God that can apply to our own faith journey?
How can we grow in trusting God’s promises like Abraham trusted?
In what areas of your life do you find it difficult to trust God’s plan? What are some steps you can take to grow in your ability to act in faith even when you are unsure of the outcome?
