God Calls

Rev. Paul J. Miller – Sermon Outline – September 23, 2018

Series Title: “This is What God Does”

Today’s Title: “God Calls”

Today’s Text: Genesis 12:1-8

ABRAHAM’S CALLING

• Finishing what his father started (11:31-32 & Joshua 24:2-3)
• God said to Abram …” (12:1)
  • first person since Noah that God spoke to (9:17)
• Go – Leaving behind…
  • Country – culture, gods, security
  • People – friends, connections, community life
  • Father’s household – family, parents, support system
  • Abram is letting go of his identity
  • He has no son, but Lot is like a son
• God promises Greatness to Abraham
  • A Great Nation
  • A Great Name
  • A Great Blessing

ABRAHAM’S ACTIONS

• In Egypt during a famine (12:10-20)
• In conflict with Lot (13:1-18)
• In war to rescue Lot (14:1-24)
• In faith that God would give him a son (15)
• Impatience with God and fathering Ishmael (16)
• In covenant with God through circumcision (17)
• In hosting God at his home (18)
• In seeing God’s patience come to an end (18-19)
  • the sin of Sodom & Gomorrah? Ezekiel 16:49-50
• In battling lingering weakness (20)
• In seeing the fulfillment of what God promised (21)
• In offering up to God the very thing he waited to possess (22)

 

WHAT DO WE SEE IN ABRAHAM’S CALLING AND LIFE?

• FAITH, FAILURE, FULFILLMENT, FATHER, FUTURE