Faith and Works

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February 17, 2008- Genesis 12:1-20

Open It

  1. What is a significant promise that you have made or that someone has made to you?

  2. When did you leave home for the first time to stay overnight at a friend's house?

  3. When you were growing up, what was the biggest lie you got caught telling?

  4. Why is moving so hard?

Explore It

  1. What did the Lord tell Abram to do? (12:1)

  2. What did the Lord promise to do for Abram? (12:2-3)

  3. What did Abram do? (12:4-5)

  4. Whom did Abram take with him when he left home? (12:4-5)

  5. What did the Lord tell Abram He would do, and how did Abram respond? (12:6-7)

  6. What did Abram do in Bethel? (12:8-9)

  7. What did Abram tell Sarai to do when they went to Egypt? (12:10-13)

  8. Why did Abram tell Sarai to lie? (12:10-13)

  9. What happened to Sarai when she arrived in Egypt? (12:14-15)

  10. How did the Egyptians treat Abram? (12:16)

  11. Why did Pharaoh and his household get sick? (12:17)

  12. What did Pharaoh do when he discovered that Sarai was Abram's wife? (12:18-20)

Get It

  1. Why might it have been hard for Abram to leave his country, his people, and his father's household?

  2. How did you feel when you left home for the first time for an extended period of time?

  3. How would you describe the promise the Lord made to Abram?

  4. Why do you think Abram built altars after the Lord appeared to him?

  5. How do you memorialize your significant experiences with God?

  6. Why do you think Abram thought it was necessary to lie after all that the Lord had promised to do?

  7. When do you think it would be OK to do something wrong in order to achieve something good?

  8. When has God helped you out of a bad situation for which you were responsible?

  9. In what setting do you need to make a greater effort to be honest?

Apply It

  1. What can you do to be more honest at home? At work? With your neighbors?

  2. How can you mark or memorialize one of your significant experiences with God?

Notes

Genesis 12:1-3: When God called him, Abram moved out in faith from Ur to Haran and finally to Canaan. God then established a covenant with Abram, telling him that he would found a great nation. Not only would this nation be blessed, God said, but the other nations of the earth would be blessed through Abram's descendants. Israel, the nation that would come from Abram, was to follow God and influence those with whom it came in contact. Through Abram's family tree, Jesus Christ was born to save humanity.

12:2 God promised to bless Abram and make him great, but there was one condition. Abram had to do what God wanted him to do. This meant leaving his home and friends and traveling to a new land where God promised to build a great nation from Abram's family. Abram obeyed, walking away from his home for God's promise of even greater blessings in the future.

Genesis 12:5: God planned to develop a nation of people he would call his own. He called Abram from the godless, self-centered city of Ur to a fertile region called Canaan, where a God-centered, moral nation could be established. Though small in dimension, the land of Canaan was the focal point for most of the history of Israel as well as for the rise of Christianity. This small land given to one man, Abram, has had a tremendous impact on world history.

Genesis 12:7: Abram built an altar to the Lord. Altars were used in many religions, but for God's people, altars were more than places of sacrifice. For them, altars symbolized communion with God and commemorated notable encounters with him. Built of rough stones and earth, altars often remained in place for years as continual reminders of God's protection and promises.

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