Discovering Faith From God

Sermon:

Reading:

Genesis 12:1-9 (Call of Abram) New International Version (NIV)

The Call of Abram

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.[a]
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.”[b]

4 So 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. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, 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[c] I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

Summary:

In difference to the people of Babel who wanted to make a name for themselves, God is the one who will make Abram’s name great.  Abram trusts in the Lord’s promises and moves his family into a foreign land.  While Abram had little to go on except his faith, we also have faith and God’s Word to teach and guide us on our journey in this world.  Why can I trust the Bible?  What will be the authority for my life?  (Matt. 5:18, Psalm 12:6, Ps. 33:4, 2 Peter 1:21, John 5:39)

Memory Verse:

John 8:31-32 “Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”