Sermon Study Guides

ERA OF THE PATRIARCHS (Genesis 12 to 50): Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.

Abraham was not always a man of great faith. He became a man of great faith over time as God worked in his life to grow his faith.

God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, the son through whom God had promised to bless the whole world. That command sounded like a contradiction. Yet Abraham chose to trust God and to believe that GOD IS ENOUGH even when everything in him screamed out to NOT trust God. So Abraham pressed forward, taking one step at a time toward Mt Moriah, following God’s instructions to the very end. That took a lot of faith.

Abraham didn’t just believe IN God; he BELIEVED God. And that gave God a foundation upon which to grow his faith.

1. Abraham believed God had a purpose for his life. That purpose was to restore what had been lost when Adam and Eve sinned—man’s relationship with God. From Genesis 3 to Genesis 11 the human race went from bad to worse. Then God went on a mission to PURSUE humanity and bring all people back into a relationship with Himself.

In Genesis 12 God CHOSE to work through Abraham and his descendants to reveal Himself to ALL nations and draw people to Himself. God’s calling of Abraham began with a single command. LEAVE. Leave your country and your people. Leave everything safe and familiar, including your old gods.

Abraham’s life of faith was launched here. FAITH always begins there. It begins when God calls us and we respond in obedience, turning our backs on our old way of life. God can’t grow our faith, if we have divided loyalties. HE created us to glorify Him, to be godly and (like Abraham) to represent Him in our world and sphere of influence. Therefore He will often call us to do things that require faith—to live counterculturally and go against the traffic.

Most of the time God calls us to FIRST be faithful in the little things. He grows our faith one step at a time.

2. Abraham believed God had His best interest at heart. God said to Abraham, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you” (Genesis 12:2). God is FOR you, NOT against you! He wants to bless you. He has your best interest at heart in all things. Sometimes stuff happens that just doesn’t make any sense. It made absolutely no sense to Abraham that God would ask him to sacrifice his precious son Isaac. He had no idea what God was up to. God doesn’t give reasons; instead He gives promises like He gave Abraham.

3. Abraham believed God was still working in him despite his failures and doubts. Detours and failures need not be dead ends! Though Abraham took a detour in chapter 16, he was back on track with God in chapter 17 and his faith in God was stronger than ever. Abraham didn’t quit. He just kept on believing God and obeying Him. True faith keeps hanging on to GOD despite doubts and fears.

In times like that, God pleads with us to keep Him first, to set our affections on Him, and to worship Him alone. God whispers, “Am I enough? Am I all you need?”

When Abraham raised his knife to destroy his dream, he did not have perfect faith. But deep down inside he believed God was enough, and he placed himself in God’s hands.

OUR GOD IS MORE THAN ENOUGH!

Study Questions

IN - PURSUE RELATIONSHIP

Have you ever thought to yourself, “If I can just get this or that, I’ll be satisfied”? How did that work out for you?
Have you ever faced a situation or problem you couldn’t solve? What was it, and how did you respond?

UP - PURSUE GOD

Read Genesis 12:1-4; 22:1-19

What things did God ask Abraham to give up? How difficult would this be? What is the point of God’s requests?
How had God grown Abraham’s faith? What’s the difference between God testing your faith and God growing your faith?

OUT - PURSUE MISSION

1. Looking back on your past experiences, how has God given you a specific mission? How did you confirm that it was from God, and how did you respond?

2. Abraham believed God because he knew God had a purpose for his life (see 1 Corinthians 15:32). What is your God-given mission in life? How diligently are you pursuing it? What might you need to prune from your life to remove divided loyalties?

Personal Reflection

Consider your faith. Are you someone who believes in God, or someone who truly believes God and His Word? Take time with God and ask Him to renew your faith. In the days ahead, determine to trust Him and step out in obedience when tests come your way.

The Word (NIV)

Genesis 12:1-4

12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household 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. ³I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” ⁴So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.

Genesis 22:1-14

22 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”, “Here I am,” he replied. ²Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” ³Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. ⁴On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” ⁶Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, ⁷Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”, “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” ⁸Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. ⁹When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”, “Here I am,” he replied. ¹²“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” ¹³Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

1 Corinthians 15:32

³²If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

This Week's Writers: Elsa Henderson, Jorel Quemuel, Gene Gibbs, David McMillin