Genesis 12:1-9_Called By God
Passage: Genesis 12:1-9
Community Group Questions
- Can you name some ways God was pursuing you before you were converted? And what are some ways God has continued to pursue you throughout your Christian life?
- Faithfulness meant Abraham loving God even when it cost him. Can you name a time when you were faithful and it cost you?
- Is there a place in your life right now you feel convicted you haven’t set apart for God?
- The gospel radically re-writes our story. What is a part of your story you can pray for Jesus to re-write with his death and resurrection?
Sermon Sections, Scripture Passages, Quotes
12:1-3 – Calling: the LORD said
“God spoke to him. God disturbed him. God called him out. That is always, invariably, the first step. Go right through the Bible, and you will find it everywhere (old, new, saint of old, anyone in church) ..They say, “There I was, living my life, doing the same things as everybody else, when suddenly (or gradually; it does not matter which) I became conscious of something that was disturbing me, something that was calling me. I felt, I heard, a call.” – Martin Lloyd Jones
“Blessing brings the power for life, the enhancement of life, and the increase of life” – F. Horst
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith – Galatians 3:8-9
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. – 1 Peter 2:9-10
12:4-9 – Response: “A Life of Faith”
4-5a -Faith allows us to respond to the call of God -even if it costs us
5b-7 – Faith allows us to believe the promises of God – even if it doesn’t fully make sense
8-9 – Faith leads to worship & proclamation of God- wherever he sends you
Jesus: The Founder & Perfector of our Faith
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. – Hebrews 12:1-3