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SERMON NOTES

Abraham Journeyed On
Genesis 12
Dr. Tony Chute, Lead Pastor

Overview: The call of God to Abraham marks a significant turning point in the biblical narrative and in world history. Abraham is told to leave his family and familiar surroundings to go to a place yet to be revealed, whereupon the Lord promises to make him into a great nation through which all the families of the earth will be blessed. Abraham begins his journey by faith but has little knowledge of how God’s promises will unfold, yet he walks with the Lord and worships the Lord along the way. Due to a famine, Abraham journeys to Egypt, which leads him to compromise his faith by asking Sarah to pose as his sister. The Lord intervenes to ensure Sarah’s personal safety, and Abraham is shamefully expelled from Egypt. Though this start is not what one would expect from a man who became the model of faith, it provides important lessons for those who are still learning to walk with the Lord and love one another.

01. The call of Abraham is sovereign in origin, universal in application, Christ-centered in focus, and faith-oriented from beginning to end. Let us recognize these same traits in the gospel message.

02. The journey of Abraham includes promises too great to comprehend, challenges too difficult to complete on his own, and occasions for failure and forgiveness. Let us recognize these same traits in ourselves.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION & DISCOVERY

1. Is there a stated reason in the text for God’s call to Abraham? What does the absence of such a reason suggest about God’s grace to sinners? How does the call of Abraham parallel our call to receive the gospel and become followers of Jesus? See Hebrews 11:8-12 for further insight.

2. What promises does God make to Abraham? How are those promises developed in the remainder of Genesis-Deuteronomy? In other words, when did Abraham and Sarah have children that will form a nation? When was the nation actually formed? When does the nation acquire the promised land? What does the delay in God’s fulfillment of His promises suggest to us about living by faith?

3. Have you ever moved from familiar surroundings to a place without family or friends waiting for your arrival? What did that experience teach you about living by faith? How can we pray for members of Northpoint who have moved or will be moving to a new area?

4. Why did Abraham build an altar to the Lord in Canaan? What is the significance of building altars to the Lord in the Old Testament? How can your life be described as an altar to the Lord? See Romans 12:1-2 for further insight.

5. Why did Abraham go to Egypt? What led him to ask Sarah to pass herself off as his sister? What does the intervention of the Lord suggest about God’s direct concern for Sarah? What does this episode suggest to us about the potential for failure and the need for growth in our lives today? See Galatians 6:1-5 for further insight.

For Further Reading: A. W. Tozer, Men Who Met God (Moody Press, 2017)