Abraham - Covenant Keeper

I. Intro:

a. Pray Requests

b. Year of the Promise - Hope of God’s Word

i. Genesis - Abraham - Lived about 4,000 year ago

ii. Brief Video Clip - Modern Day Abraham

iii. Are you losing HOPE that God will Keep His Promises to You?

c. FOR YOUR GROUP/ FAMILY Study

i. Why are difficult Pregnancies a Common Theme in the bible?

ii. What’s Up with Melchizedek (Hebrews 7)?

d. PRAYER

II. Read KEY VERSES

a. Genesis 17: 1- 14

i. vs 1 - 1st time God is referred to as God Almighty (El Shaddai) - God supplies abundantly - Amy Grant’s song

El shaddai, el shaddai, El-elyon na adonia, Age to age you're still the same, By the power of the name. El shaddai, el shaddai, Erkamka na adonai, We will praise and lift you high, El shaddai. Through your love and through the ram, You saved the son of abraham; Through the power of your hand, Turned the sea into dry land. To the outcast on her knees, You were the God who really sees, And by your might, You set your children free.

ii. vs 9 - 1st time Abram is called Abraham - 1st sign of the covenant

iii. vs 11 - Circumcision is the 2nd Sign of the Covenant

b. I want to be a COVENANT Receiver and a COVENANT Keeper like ABRAHAM

III. CALL (Keep on responding) Genesis 17:1; Heb 11.8

a. The Father of Faith

b. No Bible, No Church, No....

c. I can’t respond because I need to know more

d. Called TO God (I fought)

e. Called FOR a Mission (Christian Ministry Class) I ran –

IV. COVENANT (faith in) Genesis 17: .2-4,7-9

a. What is a Covenant - An Agreement Established by God, Between God and Humans

b. Heb 6. 13-20

i. Covenant and Promise can be used interchangeably.

ii. how about that since this is the year of the Promise

b. Not Easy - WAITING - Abraham -75 (Gen 12.4) when the Covenant - 100 when Isaac was born (Gen 21.5)

i. From Abraham to Jesus – 1,992 years (AIG.org/bibletimeline)

ii. From Abraham to you – Over 4,000 years

c. God Keeps His Promises

i. https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionary-of-bible-themes/5467-promises-divine

ii. Confirm the Covenant with some type of Sign

V. CHANGE (Name) Genesis 17:.5-6

a. Abram MEANS Exalted Father

b. ABRAHAM MEANS Father of Many

c. CONFIRMING SIGN #1 - New Name - I am no longer who I was

d. I am no longer who I was before Christ

i. Rev 2.17

ii. WHITE STONE

VI. CIRCUMCISION (of the Heart ) Genesis 17:10-14; Jer 4.4; Rom 2:28-29

a. CONFIRMING SIGN #2 - Changed Heart - I have been made new

b. John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer

“I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”

VII. NEXT STEPS

a. Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior

b. Answer His Call to be a servant by filling out the FIND Your Serve FORM or 6 Ways to be FOR Jesus this Summer

c. Find a WHITE STONE to remind you that you are a COVENANT KEEPER

d. Write a list of the PROMISES your waiting for God to answer in your life and COVENANT to pray for them everyday and rejoice when HE answers.

VIII. Communion - RENEW the Covenant