Tag: Abram

Genesis: Share in our Sufferings | 11-16-2025

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Updated: 5/15/2026

Sermon Prep

In the news at the time, the government shutdown from October through half of November in 2025. This historical shutdown which ended four days before this message impacted 40 million people depending on SNAP benefits to survive the tough economy. In those 43 days, we heard stories locally and nationally of people just trying nearly any means necessary to get food on the table without that essential government aid. It was a scary time for a lot of people both directly and indirectly impacted by this shutdown and the loss of benefits.

This backdrop also influenced how I wrote this sermon. Now yes, it effected the other previous sermons too in retrospect but consciously I was thinking about those 40 million people in need when I wrote this message. To struggle for 43 days and figure out how to feed your family during that time must’ve been beyond stressful for so many Americans. It really bothered me and our church did end up helping because we too noticed that societal strain in our community. But even still, we could only help so many compared to the gap not being met. There was a lot of hurt and worry in the Fall of 2025.

So when it came to this message I unlike most messages leaned a little into the political to drive home the application. To drive home that we who have plenty and we are well must be there for those who have little and have been hurt. I always struggle with what to or not to include politically because it honestly infects every corner of life now which is frustrating. It’s the new American religion to worship a politician over the person of Jesus. It’s embarrassing and I think my thoughts on that bled here into this here text. On that note, here’s the YouTube recording and the sermon notes:

Sermon Notes

Opening Prayer

  • Father God, lead us this morning as we search the scriptures. Thank you for your Son whose sacrifice is our salvation. Would you speak through me, in spite of me, and beyond me. Dwell with us, Holy Spirit, as you teach us today. In your name, amen.

Intro

  • Story of trying to take control in buying a home, yet finding a townhouse in the end.

Main Point

  • When we rush God’s plan and try to take control, someone always gets hurt.
    • Every spiritual scar tells a story, but Jesus shares in our suffering. 

Share in Our Sufferings | Genesis 16:1-14, 21:9-21 (NRSVue)

“[1] Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian slave whose name was Hagar, [2] and Sarai said to Abram, “You see that the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my slave; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. [3] So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. [4] He went in to Hagar, and she conceived, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. [5] Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my slave to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” [6] But Abram said to Sarai, “Your slave is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her. [7] The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. [8] And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.” [9] The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her.” [10] The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will so greatly multiply your offspring that they cannot be counted for multitude.” [11] And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Now you have conceived and shall bear a son; you shall call him Ishmael, for the Lord has given heed to your affliction. [12] He shall be a wild ass of a man, with his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall live at odds with all his kin.” [13] So she named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are El-roi,” for she said, “Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?” [14] Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.”

  • Hagar was potentially taken as a slave by Sarai when they were in Egypt (i.e. Genesis 12).
  • Sarai enacts a common ANE law where a slave bears children for the wife (Genesis 16:2).
  • Abram listening to Sarai parallels Adam listening to Eve instead of God (Genesis 16:3).
  • Ishmael means God hears; Muslims claim he is Muhammed’s ancestor (Genesis 16:11).
  • El-roi means the God who sees me and is the first time God is named (Genesis 16:13).

“[9] But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. [10] So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.” [11] The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. [12] But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. [13] As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.” [14] So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. [15] When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. [16] Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. [17] And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. [18] Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” [19] Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. [20] God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. [21] He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.”

  • Scholarship and Tradition agree that the “the angel of the Lord” in Genesis 16 is a Christophany, while “the angel of God” in Genesis 21 is just a messenger for God.
  • Hagar receives a similar promise to Abraham in that God will provide and make a nation.

Why It Matters

  • Abram and Sarai disobeyed, took control, and exploited Hagar creating generational sin.
    • Church hurt causes deep wounds that are real, but God is here for the hurting.

Power Text

“[21] “You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. [22] You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. [23] If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry; [24] my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword” –  Exodus 22:21-24b (NRSVue)

  •  Under the Law, God commands Israel to defend the alien, powerless, and vulnerable.

“[32] All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, [33] and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left… [40] And the king will answer [the right ones], ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’” – Matthew 25:32-33, 40 (NRSVue)

  • The final judgement is tied to good works towards the alien, powerless, and vulnerable.
    • Jesus not only has empathy for the hurting, but shares in their sufferings too.
      • He suffered physically on the cross, had sexual shame when the Romans publicly stripped him naked, and spiritual alienation from the Father.

Outro

“[16] We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters. [17] How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? [18] Little children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.” –  1 John 3:16-18 (NRSVue)

  • Under God’s grace, right belief naturally compels us to right behavior as his Church.
    • If you carry church hurt, bring that to God who hears, loves, and sees you.
      • If you’ve wounded others, repent and help those you hurt to heal.

Final Thoughts

The picture for this blogpost ironically comes from our annul Friendsgiving we do as a church. As you can see by the time Thanksgiving week rolled around, our community was better than ever. There was laughter and joy again, which is always the best company to have around.

People were hesitant to talk during small groups after the message. I think the subject matter of church hurt, the current political climate, and just talking about suffering in general makes everyone uncomfortable. As we were packing up, I overhead one of our teachers question the sexual shame bit, which to be fair is a minority view.

There has been more recent scholarship from the likes of Brent Kinman, Jerome Neyrey, Marika Rose and Katie Edwards, along with others as well. At this time I had incorporated this concept into my own book and relied on work from David Tombs exclusively. I’m a bit on the fence with this specific concept, but I included it simply to challenge our congregation. If you only hear things you agree with, then are you really growing in Christ? Growth is uncomfortable and so too is learning when presented with new ideas.

As for the sermon, I thought I did well with the material overall. I was especially proud of how I included so many solid cross references for this sermon. With that said, Godspeed and Jesus bless.

Genesis: Covenant Confirmed | 11-9-25

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Photo Cred: (1) | Updated: 5/14/2026

Sermon Prep

Unlike other sermons we did as a church, this was the first time I had a direct hand in shaping the series itself outside of working with the teaching team to outline said series. Typically Andrew, our lead pastor, outlines and shapes each series himself before running it by the teaching team to tweak. Given the Fall is incredibly busy, especially for him he assigned me to figure out the Joseph section while he mapped out the rest. Since Joseph is one of my favorite figures of the faith, I took on the arduous challenge gladly.

When it came to this teaching though, I didn’t have a lot a lot of prep time. I too was overwhelmed by Halloween Street planning and work, along with Joseph research so I feel like I dropped the ball a bit here getting this one ready. It all worked out, but preferably I like to dedicate the week leading up to a teaching to prep it and I just didn’t do that here. Anyways, here’s the YouTube recording and the notes below:

Sermon Notes

Opening Prayer

  • Father God, lead us this morning as we search the scriptures. Thank you for your Son whose sacrifice is our salvation. Would you speak through me, in spite of me, and beyond me. May you, Holy Spirit, dwell within us as you teach us today. Amen.

Intro

  • Dad promised we’d love Colorado and my family moved there becoming middle class.

Main Point

  • Faith is counted as righteousness because faith rests on God’s fidelity, not human ability.
    • Like Abram trusted God, we too are right with God when we trust his promises.

Covenant Confirmed | Genesis 14:21-15:21 (NRSVue)

“[21] Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” [22] But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to God Most High, maker of heaven and earth, [23] that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, so that you might not say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ [24] I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten and the share of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their share.” [1] After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” [2] But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” [3] And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” [4] But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” [5] He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” [6] And he believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. [7] Then he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” [8] But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” [9] He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” [10] He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other, but he did not cut the birds in two. [11] And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. [12] As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. [13] Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years, [14] but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. [15] As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. [16] And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” [17] When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. [18] On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates, [19] the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, [20] the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, [21] the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.””

  • Abram rejects spoils of the sword knowing that God is his shield (Genesis 14:21-15:6).
  • Abram’s deep sleep links to Adam when God acts, while humanity rests (Genesis 15:12).
  • Exodus prophecy ties Abram’s story to Israel’s bigger picture (Genesis 15:13–16).
  • God binds himself by way of a royal grant covenant cutting honor (Genesis 15:17-21).
    • Someone powerful gives an unconditional promise to someone powerless.

“Genesis 15 provides an example of a covenant sealed by divine oath. The theophany-ritual described there symbolized the conditional selfmalediction that inheres in the swearing of oaths. To his promise to Abraham God added a second immutable thing. Passing between the slain and divided beasts beneath the threatening birds of prey, God invoked the curse of the oath upon himself should he prove false to it. That curse, so effectively portrayed by the combined ritual and natural features of the scene, was a common one among ancient treaty-curses… By undergoing this ritual God declared in effect that if he failed to fulfill the promises of the covenant, he was like these creatures to be slain and devoured as a feast for the fowls.” –  Meredith G. Kline, By Oath Consigned: A Reinterpretation of the Covenant Signs of Circumcision and Baptism (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1968), 8. Available on meredithkline.com  

Why It Matters

  • Trust grows where promises hold. Therefore we lean on God’s fidelity, not our ability.

Power Text

“[5] But to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness… [13] For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith… [16] For this reason the promise depends on faith, in order that it may rest on grace… not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham… [20] No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, [21] being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. [22] Therefore “it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” [23] Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone [24] but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, [25] who was handed over for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.” –  Romans 4:5, 16, 20-25 (NRSVue)

  • Faith produces loyal obedience and justification is grounded in God’s promise, not merit.

“[13] When God made a promise to Abraham, because he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, [14] saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply you.” [15] And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise. [16] Humans, of course, swear by someone greater than themselves, and an oath given as confirmation puts an end to all dispute among them. [17] In the same way, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it by an oath, [18] so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us. [19] We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, [20] where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” –  Hebrews 6:13-20 (NRSVue)

  • Assurance in God’s promises fuels our endurance in the faith. God’s oath anchors hope.

Outro

  • As a daily holy rhythm, rehearse one promise God has sworn and live from that place.
    • Treat God’s promises as the most concrete and real things about your future.

Final Thoughts

This ended up being a solid sermon and overall my sermons from this series I believe were on another level when compared to previous series because I had such a strong hand in shaping it. Especially the Joseph sermons I did I think worked particularly well. Combining my in-depth series research with typical weeklong sermon prep brought about some unique preaching work on my part I think.

As for this teaching it had some fun improv and off-the-cuff pivots I made mid-preaching. The most notable being the whole section on Luke 8 being ad-libbed. Also except for Eddie, everyone else didn’t get the Shaun of the Dead reference. As a Cornetto Trilogy fanatic, that made me so sad but it’s fine most people don’t appreciate the genius of those films. With that, Godspeed and Jesus bless.

Footnotes

  1. https://opc.org/today.html?history_id=431