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The God of the Impossible!
Genesis 17:15-17; 18:9-15; 21:1-7 Time: 2067–2066 b.c. Place: Canaan Lesson Aim: To learn that God can do what we consider impossible. Introduction Promises have fallen on hard times. Once, a person’s word was as certain a guarantee as you could get. Then spoken words became suspect, and the written contract was born. Now we’ve spurned even that symbol of trust. Today it seems there is no contract that can’t be broken in the name of more money, better business, or newer priorities. As it is commonly said, nothing’s ever an absolute guarantee—that is, except God’s Word. When the Lord made His promise to Abraham that Sarah would…
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Faith is a journey!
Genesis 15:7-21 Time: Between 2081–2080 b.c. Place: Canaan Lesson Aim: To recognize that faith is a journey with God. Introduction Bob remembers traveling as a child with his father, a regional salesman, to visit accounts throughout southern Illinois. “On those trips, my dad relied as much on his datebook as he did his map,” Bob says. (This was decades before the arrival of smartphones and tablet devices.) The book was filled with the names and addresses of his customers, directions to their businesses, their purchasing history, and of course, the date of their next appointment. “Without that book,” Bob says, “my dad would have been out…
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Jacob and Esau as rivals
Title: Jacob and Esau as rivals Aim: To highlight the importance of making the things of God, not the things of the world, our highest priority. Scripture: Genesis 25:19–34 The Birth of Esau and Jacob, Genesis 25:19-26 As Genesis 25:19 and 20 state, Abraham was the father of Isaac, who was 40 years old when he married Rebekah. Genesis 24 (the longest chapter in the book) records how Abraham’s chief servant found Rebekah as a wife for Isaac. As the daughter of Bethuel, Rebekah was a near relative of Abraham’s family. The text says that Bethuel was an Aramean from Paddan Aram (Deut. 26:5), which means “Plain…
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Abraham, a life of faith
Title: Abraham, a life of faith Aim: To emphasize that faith is a lifelong journey with God. Scripture: Genesis 12:1–9 God summons Abraham, Genesis 12:1–3 Genesis is the book of beginnings. In this historical narrative, we find the beginnings of the material universe, human life, human sin, divine judgment on human sin, covenant promises, and the Israelite tribes—to name just a few. Genesis provides a foundation for a great deal of what we can know about life and our Lord. Genesis is also the first of five books forming a group of their own at the beginning of the Old Testament. Together, Genesis through Deuteronomy are…