Sermon Tone Analysis

The Gospel Project® for Adults

Leader Guide ESV, Unit 2, Session 4

© 2018 LifeWay Christian Resources, edited by Rev. Lex DeLong, M.A.

Permission granted to reproduce and distribute within the license agreement with purchaser.

God Renews His Promise

When has something not gone as you have expected?

How did that impact your relationship with God? (be prepared to give answers of your own to jump-start the conversation)

Summary and Goal

In previous sessions we saw that God’s plan of providing forgiveness of sin would come through a people of promise—a covenant people.

God made that covenant with Abram (Gen.

12:1-3), and later He renewed that covenant with Abraham’s son, Isaac.

God keeps His promises, but at times He does so in ways we would least expect, which can cause us to question God, that includes through people we least expect, including us.

God keeps His promises through unexpected people, many of whom seem quite unworthy of such a privilege.

Session Outline

God’s promises are kept in unusual ways (Gen.

25:21-26).

++God’s promises are given to unworthy people (Gen.

25:29-34).

++God’s promises are based on His unchanging faithfulness (Gen.

26:1-6).

Session in a Sentence

God’s covenant promises are based on His faithfulness, not ours.

In What ways should the truth of that statement the everyday lives of God’s people?

Christ Connection

God’s faithfulness depends on nothing but the essence of who He is.

God cannot be inconsistent with who He is.

God cannot act in any way that would compromise who He is.

God is God.

He always has been, is, and will always be God.

God will direct and execute His eternal and divine decree throughout all history, no matter how long it seems to take in the perspective of the people of His creation.

Since God promised to bless the world through His blessing of His covenant people Israel, and He must and will fulfill all that He promises, then His blessing of all nations will be realized eventually and fully.

God’s covenant promise to bless the world was fully realized when Jesus was born in unusual circumstances and lived and died to save unworthy people from our sin.

Missional Application:

Because we are imperfect and unworthy people whom God uses to accomplish His purposes, we can live boldly and confidently in the love of Christ, even though from our perspective, we do it imperfectly.

Group Time Introduction

The invention of the Post-it® Note by Spencer Silver.

Spencer Silver had a job to do.

A 3M® scientist, Silver was working to develop a better, stronger adhesive than anything on the market.

In the process, he created an adhesive that stuck to surfaces but did not bond tightly to them.

In terms of the task given to him by his company, it was an absolute failure; the exact opposite of what he was working to develop.

But Silver wasn’t willing to give up on his discovery altogether.

It may not have been what 3M® was looking for, but the scientist believed it had potential—there had to be a use for it.

He shared it with all of his colleagues, but no one could figure out how to use this temporary adhesive.

At that same time, another 3M® scientist named Art Fry had a problem.

During his weekly practices with his church choir, Fry would mark the hymns they would sing with small scraps of paper.

The problem was that they wouldn’t stay in the hymn book but would often fall out during the week.

And then it struck him.

Fry contacted Silver and the pair began developing a new product, something that would soon become far more than merely a bookmark.

Using scrap Canary Yellow paper from the lab next door and Silver’s adhesive, Post-it® Notes were born. 1

3M's sticky paper, the “Press ‘n Peel,” was offered in 4 cities around the U.S. in 1978.

It received mixed reviews and not a ton of attention.

The tables turned, however, when 3M tried a new marketing strategy – the “Boise Blitz.”

This involved changing the name to “Post-it Notes” and offering free samples to focus groups in Boise, Idaho.

The response was overwhelmingly positive, and the sampling continued in 11 other states.

At the end of the campaign, 90% of consumers were interested in 3M's new product.

By the end of the year, Post-it Notes were sold nationally, earning more than $2 million in sales.

Today, the Post-it is available in 27 sizes, 57 colors, and 20 fragrances in more than 150 countries.

They offer a total of 4,000 products and continue to grow!

DDG (p.

93)

Did you know that the invention of Post-it® Notes was completely unexpected, a discovery on the journey for a different solution?

We have all experienced times when things have not gone as we might have expected, whether for better or worse.

The question for us as followers of Christ is how does God make sense of those times?

What do we do when God seems to throw us a curve-ball?

Is it possible that He had a plan that was simply better than the one we expected?

God keeps His promises, but at times He does so in ways we would least expect, which can cause us to question God.

God keeps His promises through unexpected people, many of whom seem quite unworthy of such a privilege—people just like us.

Point 1: God’s promises are kept in unusual ways (Gen.

25:21-26).

Read Genesis 25:21-26 (DDG p. 94).

21 And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren.

And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

22 The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?”

So she went to inquire of the Lord.

23 And the Lord said to her,

“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided;

the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”

24 When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb.

25 The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau.

26 Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob.

Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

Abraham had struggled to trust in God’s promises because of his wife’s infertility, but God had proven Himself faithful.

Now Isaac and his wife faced their own unexpected, heartbreaking trial.

Isaac did not take matters into his own hands.

Instead, he turned to God in prayer and left the outcome in the Lord’s hands.

Explain the emotional and theological implications of Rebekah’s infertility.

Emotional: The struggle with fertility was stressful and difficult for them both individually and as a couple.

Though Scripture here seems to pass over the issue of infertility quickly, Rebekah was barren for twenty years after marrying Isaac (see Gen. 25:20,26)—twenty years likely filled with heartache, confusion, doubt, and perhaps even anger.

Theological: If Rebekah could not have children, then the line of Abraham would be broken.

Isaac was the son of promise; his son would be the next one in that line for the covenant to keep going forward.

Without a son through Isaac and Rebekah, how could God fulfill His promises to bless the world?

How long are you willing to wait for God to fulfill His promise?

Remember, God has made it clear that He will do what is best for you and for His glory…He has promised it and what He promises, He fulfills.

Isaac and Rebekah waited 20 years.

DDG (p.

94).

In His grace and faithfulness, the Lord heard Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah conceived.

But Rebekah’s long-desired pregnancy, which surely caused great joy, thankfulness, and celebration, took an unexpected turn.

The twins growing inside of her began to struggle, causing her to seek the Lord.

Once again, God heard and responded.

And in yet another unexpected turn in this story, God told Rebekah that her firstborn son would serve the younger.

There were two ways God was working unexpectedly in this situation, demonstrating His supernatural work to bring redemption to humanity.

The first two patriarchs in the line of God’s covenant promises were powerless to have a single son, let alone form a nation of people or provide salvation for sinners.

So Rebekah’s barrenness giving way to a miraculous pregnancy, just as with Sarah, reminds us that God was clearly the One fulfilling His promises and working toward salvation for humankind.

The Messiah promised by God would indeed come through the line of Abraham, but not through the efforts or merits of Abraham, Isaac, or anyone else.

God alone would accomplish this how and through who He decreed.