Phase 1: Abram/Sarai, Abraham/Sarah

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_red.svg" alt="/icons/book_red.svg" width="40px" /> Genesis 12:1-5 (NKJV) ****The Story pg. 13

Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great, And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you, And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.

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Building a Strong Foundation: Faith

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_red.svg" alt="/icons/book_red.svg" width="40px" /> Hebrews 11:8-10 (NKJV) ****The Story pg. 14

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

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1. By Faith

God expects us to grow in faith.
Faith is built by hearing of the Word God.
Faith is the currency of the kingdom. Hebrew 11:1
Everything we do in the kingdom will be built on faith. </aside>

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_red.svg" alt="/icons/book_red.svg" width="40px" /> Matthew 7:24-27 (NLT) ****The Story pg. 13

Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. ****But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. ****When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.

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Reflect

What are ways you are actively building your faith?

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2. Trust and Obey

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
Trust is built on experiences ( Genesis 14 Abram Rescues Lot)
God requires obedience even when we don’t have all of the information </aside>

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_red.svg" alt="/icons/book_red.svg" width="40px" /> Genesis 12:1

We must obey even when it is hard.
Sometimes the test of obedience is to see what is really in your heart. </aside>

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_red.svg" alt="/icons/book_red.svg" width="40px" /> Hebrews 11:17 (NKJV) ****The Story pg. 20

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” ****concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

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Reflect

Why can trusting and obeying God be difficult?

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Sarah

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_red.svg" alt="/icons/book_red.svg" width="40px" /> Hebrews 11:11-12 (NKJV) ****The Story pg. 14

By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

Sarah’s faith was not perfect. She first laughed in unbelief. </aside>

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_red.svg" alt="/icons/book_red.svg" width="40px" /> Luke 22:31-32

And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. ****But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

There is redemption on the other side of failures </aside>

Hagar

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_red.svg" alt="/icons/book_red.svg" width="40px" /> Genesis 16:9-13 (NKJV) ****The Story pg. 16

The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.” Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” And the Angel of the Lord said to her: “Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your affliction. He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man’s hand against him.

And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.” Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?”

God hears and sees
God does provide
God is faithful to the marginalized outcast
God is true to his Word </aside>

Reflect

Consider Sarah and Hagar. Which woman do you most identify with in your current walk with Christ? How can we pray for you?

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Phase 2: Isaac and Rebekah

Genesis 25-26 The Story pg. 19