Genesis Part 7
Discussion Guide
Call & Obedience
April 24 | Genesis Series Part 7
Overview
The story of the call of Abram and Sarai in Genesis 12 kicks off something that will be a thread through the whole story: God’s Redemption through a particular people.
Like Abram and Sarai we trend toward and find ourselves in a place of barrenness. But this is the exact space that God, the Creator-Redeemer, speaks into to give us life, and hope, and a future.
When God calls, he extends an invitation—a command paired with a promise. And so to obey is a radical act of faith, but it is also an accepting of a generous invitation to relationship.
And this journey of faith can be unsettling—a mix of God’s presence and seeming absence, of our faithfulness and faithlessness. But that is the journey.
The hope is that we will ultimately be settled in God himself who is the Author and Main Character of the grand story of Redemption. Just as he was faithful to Abraham to fulfill this promise of blessing and redemption through Jesus, we can trust that through this same Jesus, and through this same Promise-Maker, we too will experience the ultimate and final renewal of all things.
Questions for Discussion
If you have been a Christian for a while or you grew up in church, it can be difficult to remember the place of “barrenness” that God calls us from. Yet all of us experience times where things feel hopeless or like we’re stuck and have no future. Can you remember a time like this? Looking back on it, did God eventually speak into the situation, even if in a way you weren’t expecting?
Do you have a hard time with the command/obedience language in the call to “Go” or to “Follow”? How do you think your childhood upbringing interacts with your response?
In the sermon, David suggested that when you pair the command “Go” with the promise “I will bless you” it becomes an invitation. Even if this helps in our resistance to obey, it can become challenging if we don’t see the promise being fulfilled how we expected. Practically, how can we “keep the promise before us” so as to keep on in the journey and not lose heart? (Leaders, sorry this question might be confusing. Feel free to skip!)
Where are you at right now in the unsettling journey of faith? Do you sense God’s active involvement and presence or does he seem absent or behind the curtain? As you share, take some time to encourage one another not with answers or advice, but with presence, listening, and prayer.
Close in Prayer
Before you end your time, pray, asking for the Spirit’s presence in the big and small stuff of life. Take some time to pray for other prayer requests as they come up.
