God's Promises Abram and Sarai - March 13, 2022

Bible Study “God Promises Abram and Sarai”

Share:  Your highs (something that made you happy) and lows (something that made you sad) this week with others around you or write them down.

Lent is a reflective season – an opportunity to go deep within ourselves and focus on our relationship with God and with others. The forty days of Lent remind us of the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert following his baptism, pondering who he was and what he was to do. They also remind us of the forty years that the people of God wandered in the desert following the Exodus from Egypt, learning how to be the community of the people of God. The Hebrew Scripture lessons focus on the covenants or promises that God made with the people of God. Like Jesus, we choose to enter this time of “desert,” in order to remember the promises of God, hear the stories of ways in which they were fulfilled (hint: They didn’t always look the way the people expected!), and the ways in which we are called to participate in those promises in our own time – to discover who we are in God and what we are to do.

In this week’s lesson, we turn to one of the foundational stories of our faith, which tells us how God made a promise to Abram and Sarai to make them the starting place of the family of God, even though it seemed impossible, as they had no children of their own.

The seasons of the church year have changed, and it is the time of Lent, the time we set aside to pay attention to the ways in which we come close to God, and to step away from things that separate us from God.  Through your baptism, you are always a part of God’s great family, “that you are marked Christ’s own, forever.”

 

Opening Prayer:  Thank you, God, for the gift of Lent, the time we pay special attention to the ways we can come closer to you. Help us to hear your promises, and to remember that we are part of your great family. Amen.  

 

Please open your Bibles to Genesis 15:1-12,17-18 and read or read the scriptures below. 

 

Genesis 1-12, 17-18

The Lord’s Covenant With Abram

15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,[a]
your very great reward.[b]

2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring[d] be.”

6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”

8 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”

9 So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.

17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi[a] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—

Reflection Questions:

  • How do you think Abram and Sarai felt when they didn’t think they would ever have children?
  • How do you think it felt to hear God promise of descendants?
  • Do you think they believed God right away, or if it took some time?
  • Is there anything that seems impossible to you?
  • How do you think Abram and Sarai felt when they saw the stars after God made this promise?
  • Have you ever gone out at night to look at the stars?

 

Click here for the young learner’s lesson

 

Videos (Click on the words or url)

5-Minute Bible Study: Genesis 15:1-21 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVWNVfbKoBk

Word of the Day – Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVEimVTMuzg

Overview: Genesis 12-50https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4isSyennFo

 

Activities:

For the Story Bag:   Today your symbols for your story bag for Lent is to remember the promises of God. (The symbols will be a star, a burning bush, stones, a portion of a map or a road, and a cross throughout Lent.) The symbol for this week is a star.   Cut out and decorate the star.  Click on the following url on “How to make a simple & easy paper star”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wnu5rlc40E    Add the star to the story bag.

Journal: An inexpensive journal or you might simply gather several pieces of notebook paper, and make construction paper covers by stapling them together down the sides. Journaling can be in words or pictures, and can be free-form, or follow a prompt. A possible prompt for this week is this: Who is in your family, both people related to you and people that are in your family by choice? What stories do you know about your family? Are there places that are special to your family? Have you ever moved to a new home? Alternatively, the journal could also be a place for exploring possible Lenten disciplines, such as prayer, fasting, or charitable giving.  

Maze:  God’s Promises Abram and Sarai

Word Search: https://thewordsearch.com/puzzle/3414062/gods-promises-abram-and-sarai/

 

Prayer:  (This can be done as a body prayer by placing your hands on the mentioned body part as you pray.)

God be in my head and in my understanding.

God be in my eyes and in my seeing.

God be in my mouth and in my speaking.

God be in my heart and in my loving.

God be in my hands and in my touching.

God be in my legs and in my moving.

God be in my life and in my journey.   Amen.