Tuesday, April 25, 2006
By Faith... Abraham - Part I, Part 26 of 56
TEXT: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, 'Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.' Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, he promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him" (Acts 7:2-5).
IDEA: The severest test of our faith in Christ is found when we have to abandon attachments we have to our past.
PURPOSE: To help listeners understand that abandonment to Jesus Christ leads to fulfillment.
Do you think that many Christians feel a barrenness about their lives?
Why do you think that takes place?
I. Walter Brueggemann says, "The departure from securities is the only way out of barrenness."
He said that in a commentary on Genesis. He was writing about Abraham.
What securities did Abraham leave?
He left the comfort of an advanced civilization and the consolation that comes with familiarity (he had been there 75 years), and the security that comes from traditions.
II. Are Christians ever called to do that?
Jesus said, "Unless you leave father, mother, brothers and sisters, houses and lands, you cannot be my disciple." What do you think He meant when He said that?
A Christian may leave his family and those that he leaves may almost feel as though it is hatred for them.
Christians have left their homeland to go to other parts of the earth. Early missionaries actually left the United States or England with no assurance that they would ever return.
People sometimes leave their patterns of worship as they follow Jesus Christ.
III. Do you think that Brueggemann's statement stands for Abraham or for us: "The departure from security is the only way out of barrenness"?
