When will God finish the work that He started?

Twenty-five years after God first called Abraham and Abraham set out on his journey of faith, God's promise that Abraham would have a son by Sarah his wife is finally fulfilled! Unfortunately, the miraculous birth of Isaac doesn't mean that Abraham and his family go on to live happily ever after. But does the continuing conflicts in Abraham's household mean God has stopped working in Abraham's life?

This week we continue our journey through Genesis with chapter 21 and the birth of Isaac, the son of promise. We'll see God continue to work in Abraham's life through the blessings and the conflicts to produce a faith in Abraham more precious than gold. And we'll see how Abraham's story parallels the work of sanctification that God works in our own lives today.

If I'm supposed to be dead to sin, why do I keep sinning?

Abraham, a great man of faith who left his home at God's command and saved his nephew from invading armies. The man whom God counted righteous simply for believing that God would do the things He promised. After God visited Abraham and shared a meal with him and promised him a son by Sarah his wife, Abraham finds himself wandering again from the land of promise and falling into old habits of deception.

This week we continue our study through Genesis in chapter 20. We'll see how even a great man of faith like Abraham can easily fall back into old habits of sin, and how God's promises remain true despite Abraham's sin. We'll look at practical steps we can take--not to become sinless but to sin less, and see that even when we are faithless, God remains faithful.

What kind of legacy are you leaving behind?

The Lord judged the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness, but in His grace He spared Lot and his family by taking them out of the city. After years of compromised living in a wicked society, what kind of life will Lot and his daughters go on to live?

This week we finish Genesis 19 and see what kind of legacy Lot will leave behind him. We'll read about the culmination of the choices Lot made over his life and see how his compromises would go on to have a lasting impact on his life and his daughters. And we'll discuss how Lot's story becomes a cautionary tale for us of the dangers of living by sight and not by faith.

Won't the judge of the whole earth do what is just?

After the Lord visited Abraham and shared a meal, He told Abraham the purpose of His visit: to investigate the great cry from the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to see if the time for judgment against the cities had come. With concern for his nephew, Lot, Abraham intercedes for the cities, asking God whether He would judge the righteous with the wicked. The Lord's answer made it clear that He would not. But what about when the "righteous" aren't so righteous?

This week we read from Genesis 19 and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. We'll examined what had become of Lot since he last parted ways with Abraham and look at what happens in the lives of believers when we live too close to sin and allow compromise into our lives. The Lord will save those who trust in Him, but we hinder our testimony and risk great heartache when we live lives of compromise with the world.

I prayed for someone else one time--isn't that enough?

When the Lord Himself passed by Abraham's tent in Hebron, Abraham rejoiced to play host to three heavenly visitors, who shared a meal and an encouraging promise with Abraham and Sarah. As the meal ended and the visitors rose to leave, the Lord would go on to share with Abraham the reason He passed by that day: to investigate the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and see whether it was time to judge these cities for their wickedness.

This week we finish reading through Genesis 18 and see Abraham's response to the Lord's intentions to judge the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. We'll learn why it was important for Abraham to know about the justice of God and see how Abraham intercedes on behalf of his nephew Lot who was living in the midst of a wicked city. And through it all we'll challenge ourselves to draw closer to God in order to intercede on behalf of our own loved ones today.

Is the impossible possible?

When God visited Abraham and shared a meal with him and talked to Abraham face to face as a friend, God spoke His promise again that Sarah would bear a son to be Abraham's heir. As Sarah eavesdropped on the conversation, she laughed in unbelief, for surely it is impossible for a barren woman of 90 years to give birth to a son!

This week we continue reading Genesis 18 and ask ourselves the same question the Lord posed to Sarah in response to her unbelief: Is anything impossible for the Lord? When God makes us a promise, do we respond in faith or in unbelief?

What if you heard Jesus was coming to visit?

Would you spend time cleaning up or preparing a big meal? Would you rush out to meet Him? Well, when the newly-renamed Abraham received a special visit from the Lord, he went above and beyond to share a meal with God and became a great example of what it means to be the friend of God.

This week we return to our study in Genesis with a message from Genesis 18. We'll see how Abraham responds when he receives three heavenly messengers and dig into what it means to be a friend of God. We'll look at some of the common things that can hinder our close relationship with God and what it means to us today that Jesus calls us friends.

What's in a name? A nose by any other name can still smell.

While Shakespeare can poetically question the significance of names, when God comes along and changes someone's name, it's something to pay attention to. For the man born Abram, life had been a long journey of highs and lows, successes and failures. But constant through all of that was God's faithfulness. Thirteen years after the birth of Abram's son, Ishmael, God appears to Abram again to confirm His promise, and to change Abram's name.

This week we study through Genesis 17 and dig deep into the meaning of four important names in this chapter. We'll look at the significance of God calling Himself "God Almighty;" we'll compare and contrast Abram and Sarai's new names that God gives them; and we'll look at the meaning of Abraham's promised son, Isaac, as God continues to bring about the promised Messiah.