God has made promises to Abram and in this chapter will establish his covenant with him and give the sign of circumcision. Abram will be known as Abraham, Sarai as Sarah, and the birth of Isaac is promised. This chapter is a little longer than the past couple we’ve read and I felt a lot needed to be said.
Mistakes have consequences. Sometimes you don’t even realize you are making a mistake in the moment, it seems like the right thing to do, but there are still consequences. And sometimes, if you are Abram and Sarai, you make mistakes that change the course of world history and the consequences of your actions will continue to be felt for millennia.
There’s a lot of negative things to say about topical preaching, but I know two things: 1) Father’s Day will be one of the most searched terms today on the Internet, and 2) No matter what “topic” I begin with, before the sermon is over I will preach the Gospel.
“Father Abraham had many sons, many sons had Father Abraham.” So goes the old children’s song. While we recognize Abraham as the primogenitor of the Jewish nation, like any member our fallen race he was far from perfect. One danger of celebrating historic lives is that we elevate a person too high by never mentioning certain shortcomings or character flaws. Historians have to be careful in their presentation of certain figures, particularly the ones they like. Continue reading
The Master's Table 