REED_Bible Study 22FEB2019

Thank you everybody for joining us this evening. We do gather here in fellowship to really help understand and learn a piece of scripture that it can be very easily read, so we tend to just kind of skip right through it without really looking at the deeper meaning of what is meant behind God's word in it. So the whole point of tonight is to really be closer to the Lord after we walk away from today. And so with that, we're going to open with a fellowship prayer. So So please bow your heads and pray with me. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the health that you've given us and the opportunity for this group to come together in your name, that we may listen and feel your glorious words moving within us. We pray for stillness— that's my prayer— that we may quiet our bodies and our minds long enough to discern the true meaning behind the word without the distractions of worldly things. We pray for conviction, that we may feel your spirit moving within us to inspire us to better the world. And we pray for fellowship in Christ, that we may hold each other accountable to the words and the lessons that are brought to light in order to further glorify your name. Be with us tonight as we seek to discern your words In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Excellent. Well, so tonight's lesson is going to take us all the way back to Genesis chapter 15. We are at the beginning of creation of the earth and just after the fall of Adam and Eve. If you don't know me personally, my name is Shelley Rood. I am a full-time seminary student in my second year, and we are gathered here tonight as an attempt to help capture on camera a little bit of the teaching style and the lesson that is put forth tonight. So thank you very much for coming, and I greatly appreciate your participation in the evening. All right, you guys can grab your Bibles and go ahead and open up to the front. We are looking at Genesis chapter 15. It's also right up here if you forget where you're going. I'll kind of run you through what we're going to do for an outline, our agenda. We are going to take turns reading out loud, and then we're going to have open discussion on some of the different pieces of what we're reading. Then we're going to have the opportunity to break out into small groups, so we're just going to pair off or go in twos or threes. Each small group is going to be getting a set of questions, and you guys are going to work on that question in relationship to to the verses that were read. After that, we're going to come back together as a classroom. We're going to have a little bit more of a group discussion, summarize some of the key points and the takeaways from where we are with our opportunity tonight, and then we're going to close in prayer and everybody will be safely on their way. Why don't we just kind of go this way? So, Miss Pam, do you want to go ahead and open us with Genesis chapter 15?

Genesis 17:1.

Oh, sure.

God's covenant with Abram. After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.

Okay, so we're looking at a man named Abram. He's the father of the Israelite nation. The rest of the verses here, we're actually going to see that he has an actual interaction with the Lord, and just like a true human being would, he expresses some sincere doubts. And then as we talk about his interaction, we're actually going to be looking into ourselves to help similarly identify issues that we face even today. And then we're gonna look for the ways that the Lord assisted Abram in his times of doubts. Miss Judy, would you like to pick Pick up with the second verse?

Sure. But Abram said, O Lord God, what Hittites, Perizzites, Rephrites, Amorites, Canaanites, and Jebusites.

That's it.

That's it. I love this. So I honestly wanted to hear you all read the word out loud because that's how it's meant to be. God gave us the book. So that there's nothing between us and his word. And you don't have to go through a preacher or a pastor or a priest to get to God. It really is just you and the word. And it's so cool to hear your voices being the ones reverberating those words that mean so much to us. So my question for the group is, based on your current understanding of the Old Testament, what do you know about God's relationship with Abram?

That he gave him a son in old age through his wife's maidservant.

Yeah.

And she despised her.

That's right. So then there was a relation— so he did something that God told him not to do, like, you don't have to do that, I'm gonna give you one, right? And so Abram got old and started to have doubts that he was gonna get what he was promised, took human action and walked away from God, essentially trying to fulfill it himself. And it caused all— it caused marital strife, all kinds of issues.

He lost the faith.

He did, yeah. Anything else that we know about Abram?

He was the beginning. He was the first man that God truly revealed himself to. To as far as the beginning of like the nations, I guess you could say. And everything in history kind of built off of Abram, who then became Abraham, so his name got changed.

A lot of people do that when they come to Christ. I think it's really cool that you can be given a new name. Yeah, yeah.

I also remember Father Abraham had 7 sons, 7 sons, many.

You do remember that?

I don't remember that.

I don't know. Really?

I see many sons.

Usually when people think of Abram, whose name was changed to Abraham, they think of the father of the Israelites. He was also the father of the Arabs.

Ishmael.

Ishmael was the unofficial father of the Arabs. So when the Lord said your 'His descendants will be as numerous as the stars,' he really means that he's the father of not just one nation but two nations. And you can see why today the Arabs still hate the Israelites. They hate the Jews. 'You were chosen, we weren't.' They're still mad about it.

I actually remember learning that for the first— isn't it funny, right? Raised Catholic and participating in, you know, whatever I participated in, but not having a genuine understanding of that history behind it. And I was taking a religion course for my bachelor's, actually, Religion 101, and they did the lineage, and that was the first time that I learned who Ishmael was and really the split and the divide between the religions. And I was, you know, it's like a light bulb.

Yeah.

And I just wonder how many other people are out there that don't, that miss that simple piece of it, right, that can just tie so much together in such a beautiful story. Thank you for that insight, that's wonderful. I am going to ask you guys to do a little bit of a group breakout here. So each of you are going to get a series of 2 questions, and you're gonna have a 15-minute timer to just sit and talk amongst yourself to answer the 2 questions, pit back and forth. And then if you can choose one who is going to speak at the end of the 15 minutes, and then just share what the couple of you guys have decided to share. So Group 1. I don't have a book, but I do look at— So we're going to go around to each group and talk about the questions and answers, and each group is going to have 5 minutes to lay out— you don't think it's long enough? 5 minutes. Group to talk about what it is, because everybody had different questions.

Oh, we did?

Yeah. Oh, she's sneaky. Alright, so let's start with group number 1.

Okay, sure. Go ahead.

I guess I should read your questions, shouldn't I?

Sure.

So the first one was Genesis 15, verse 1. The word of the Lord comes to the people in the Bible in many different different ways. So they were challenged with the question of, can you list any other visions that have been recorded, and are they similar or different than Abram's?

Uh, yes, we came up with, um, similarities, and one of them was that as the angel came to Mary, Mother Mary, and, um, was going to tell her that she's going to have the Son of God And what a vision that, you know, must have been to her, a young girl. She wasn't very old, young lady, and having this come to you because she didn't even have a man. You know, she didn't have a man that she, you know, was going to help her through this. She had her mother and Jesus's grandmother. It was like, my goodness, how can this happen? This can't happen. But she didn't do that. She said, you know, God— she just opened her heart to Him. And my goodness, how beautiful that vision was. And then the vision in the tomb after Jesus had been crucified and buried in the tomb the next day. And the, you know, just the He appeared to some people walking down the street. I want to think the street is— do you remember the street, Drew? The famous— is it Canon?

It's the Walk to Emmaus. It's a road from Jerusalem to the town of Emmaus.

Okay, and the men saw— he passed them and they thought they saw Jesus, but they really didn't realize that it was Jesus. Jesus, but how did they know that all that had happened to Jesus just before that? How did they know? Or how did this man know what had happened to them? So I think that was a beautiful vision. And so then, okay.

Do you feel like they were similar or different than Abram's vision?

Well, I believe that, I would say that Abram's He was in the real early Old Testament, whereas the men that were on that road, they were in the New Testament. So I still think that it is awesome that God's— it can be so— come to people of all ages, come to people of way back before that, you know, there was hardly a lot of people on the earth, and then to come when it was totally populated and people were struggling with their identities and who are they to love. Are they to love, you know, a golden statue, you know, that is great wealth and would give them comfort, or, you know, God that kind of is hurting them. Because God wants them to learn about him and learn about life and learn about their strengths and learn about how beautiful and merciful God is.

So— And touching back on your point about Mary just accepting and moving forward, these visions are undeniable. That's what I take away from it. When you have that instance with God, you just—

You can't explain it.

It is what it is. Okay, so then the second question that you all had was, why would God open the conversation with, "Do not be afraid"?

Well, I think just like what you said, I think you almost had to have that total awe situation that you just know it's God. Because half of the things that he's entrusted anybody in the Bible to do, on a normal situation, if it were myself, I would be saying, well, that ain't happening. You know, you're gonna kill your daughter? You know, you're gonna— you know, so there has to be something that is so overpowering if he came to you. You know, like I said to your mom, when I say my prayers almost every day, I always say, you know, I just wish we could sit on a park bench for like 2 minutes. Let me hold your hand and let me sit for 2 minutes and just really try to figure some stuff out. Don't have to know everything, but some stuff I'd really like to know. That would be a whole 18-hour class, so But I think that that is the "do not be afraid." I think when he does appear to these people, there probably is like that total calm or something like, "This is God without a doubt." I mean, you don't read where anybody says, "Go away," you know, and that's the end of the story. Yeah, and doubt, right? Nobody's doubting. No, they don't go, "Go ask that guy." Like, I would be like—

like, and that's why he would probably say, don't be afraid, because you're like shell-shocked, right?

Yeah, right. But I think you had— I think your whole body went through— I think your body just had to— because you would be afraid. I mean, you would be, you know, and all of a sudden he brings you that peace. And I think that's the peace he wants everybody— when he says, my peace be with you, I think that's what we're trying to accomplish is to do that total trust and get that peace.

I love that. That's a great way to phrase that. Thank you. Yeah. Anything else you ladies would like to add? All right, so group number 2, their section of scripture was Genesis verses 2 and 3, which is where Abram expresses his doubts. So your first question was, if God verbally offered you massive blessing things, what doubts would you have?

For this, I had to put myself in Abraham's shoes. And if we look back in Scripture, we can see that he's given this unbelievable promise, and he's told that, you know, you're going to be the father of nations, you're going to be blessed beyond what you can imagine. And then a couple of years go by. And then a couple more years go by and he's getting older and so is his wife, and she hasn't been able to bear children for years and nothing's happening. He's going, okay, Lord, you said you were going to do this.

And he's being faithful all along. He's trying to, yes, you know, living a good life and being the person he thinks he's supposed to be.

And I could see anybody, any human getting very, very frustrated and then taking matters into their own hands. And that's how we get Ishmael.

Losing that faith over time.

Because it just, it goes on and on and on and on. Okay, you said you're gonna do it. I don't really know you, right? But I'm not seeing anything, so I'm gonna have to do some stuff here.

And your second question was, what blessings are in your life now that you would have doubted had they been promised to you years ago?

You want to go first?

Well, I just put— well, Drew helped me write salvation and relationship with Christ because I didn't have that 5 years ago. And so that's my blessing that now I do have a relationship with him. You know, I'm still— I call myself a newbie because I've never read the Bible. I've rarely prayed. My thing I did as a Catholic was complain about a lot of things, and I just went on my way and did my thing.

Go to confession and start the next day.

Yeah, right. Yeah.

And for me, it's It took the passing of my father to bring me into relationship with Christ, and I have found the closer I get to him, that the deeper my faith goes and the closer I get with him, the more blessings I see that I've had before that didn't really realize, and the more I'm getting now.

So yeah, he's pretty much—

beautiful.

That's awesome. And then they actually had a third question where Abram is complaining of having no offspring. What would you complain to God about if you had the chance?

Okay, we all live in Michigan. How many, how many of you guys like our roads?

I thought you were going to say the weather lately.

How many of you guys like the weather?

Oh yeah.

I work outside sometimes. Sometimes it's not so fun.

And to think about how we were created, right, with no clothes, and just to be thrown to the elements of the earth. I mean, holy merciful God. I mean, thank goodness that he gave us the ability to adapt and overcome. Otherwise we would be frozen solid.

Or sunburnt. Or, you know.

It's all training.

With sand.

Really, it's situational. I mean, what in any given situation can you not complain about? If you want to complain about something, I mean, if I have a disagreement with my wife, I can be very thankful for my wife beforehand, and then afterward I can complain about my wife. It's anything. You can complain about work if you want to complain about work. You can complain about school if you're in school. You can complain about, I don't like the color of those light bulbs. You can complain about anything you want.

It's about perspective.

It is.

I think the faith and the doubt too. Like I was telling your mom, there are certain prayers that I say every day and there's a few things that I feel like haven't been answered in years and I still pray for them and it's like you get a little attitude. Like, I mean, I'm sorry, but I do. And, you know, I tell them that too. It's like, you know, I was like you, I was Catholic and whatever. But you just kind of like hang in there. I mean, I know and feel in my heart that he has the best for me. And I guess, you know, when it like, like, I guess to like You're like, my— I don't know how to explain it. Like, you just— we want things faster, just like he did. So he put stuff in his own hands, and look where it got him. So you have to try as a person not to do that, because that is so tempting. That's like, forget this, I got it, you know, I'll fix it. And you know, I know deep in my heart that it's not gonna work that way, because that ain't the way he wants it. So then that cycle starts starts again.

I look at it like as a puzzle, you know, like one of those ones you have to draw from the beginning to the end. And then if you stay on the path that he gives for you, you're gonna go through it and then you're not gonna hit any of those walls. But if you try to do it on your own, you're gonna make a left and you're gonna run into a wall, and then you got to backtrack, and then you have to try to find the right path, and then So I guess you have to try to think of it that way when you're asking him for something, that he's got you on that path and you just have to have faith that he's gonna get you there.

Right. And then only God can change things. Right. I mean, that's just it. And you just gotta keep continuing to say that. He's the only, you know, I mean, like you try to tell, like, you know, when I've talked to girlfriends about, you know, their kids, and if their kids were having problems, and it's like, you know, just keep praying and praying and praying. You physically can't change things. I mean, and as a mother or a father, you just want the best for them, and it's like, I need to change this. And, you know, the patience that's involved in all of this is— it's trying. It happened with him, and then the poor guy got shoved into it and then got blamed. I was like, wait, that was your idea. You made me do this, and then it was your fault. You know, so that's what happens, you know, if you always remember, that's what happens when you try to do it yourself.

And the honesty is the key, even in your prayer. I got an attitude, I know I got an attitude. Right. I come to you with attitude and please help me get rid of my attitude.

Right, exactly. Help me be a nice person. I'm not liking things very much right now.

You know, it's a genuine relationship.

It is.

It's not a sugar-coated relationship.

It is.

I'm only ever going to say nice things to you. It's a genuine, real relationship. He knows you better than you know yourself, right? So you really going to hide stuff from me?

And I don't have a husband to get mad at, so I'm mad at him quite a bit. Aaron, he gets a lot of— he gets a lot from me when I come complain, blame, or shame.

Those are my three— like, I know I got a chip on my shoulder. Yeah, about something or somebody or whatever. And it's usually because I had expectations of somebody else and I didn't take it to God. And so then I take it to God and God's like, okay, if we get rid of your ego, and then we can talk. But as long as you're edging me out— and that's what I was telling Shelley I was reading a book and it said ego is edging God out.

E-G-O.

And I'm like, that is so true because we want what we want in our heads.

Yeah, and you want to fix it.

And I know what it's like to long for a child as Abraham and Sarah did. And I remember getting on my knees in my basement before Christmas one year and I'm like, I don't want to live through another Mother's Day, another Christmas seeing all these pregnant women and all these wonderful mothers, and I want to be a mom, and you know, here I am 29, and you know, ain't nothing happening, and my husband doesn't want a child, and I just got on my knees and I just was like, I don't know what, I don't know what else you want from me. That's the only thing that I want right now, and if you don't want that for me, I get it, but then tell me what you do want. On because I just like, I'm broken.

Yeah.

And I'm telling you, I—

it was a perfect segue into your group's questions. Yeah, so they were looking at kind of the end piece of it, but we'll go ahead and pull there. So verses 7 through 16 is where God speaks to Abram's doubts with a covenant. And the first one is that the Lord reminds Abram of his past blessings Where have you found strength in your life to move forward because of your past?

Right, and that's it. Shelley and I were talking. I wanted another child, wanted another child. I wanted a child, period, and then I wanted another child. So at the age of 40, you know, I'm like, do I divorce my husband and try to find somebody who wants to marry a 40-year-old woman with a, with a son?

Good luck with that.

Yeah, right?

And, uh, and like, so I'm like, Well, what would God want me to do? Would God want me to leave my husband? I mean, is my husband that horrible? No, he wasn't. I just wanted what I wanted, and I couldn't see past that. And now that I look back, our son is gonna be 26. We've been married 30-plus years. And had I not taken it to God and heeded his commands, and I knew in my heart what his answer was before I even asked it, you know, just because of my upbringing, you know, that I was committed. I made a commitment and a vow. And, um, and, um, Shelley, do you want to share yours about the past? How the strength in your life to move forward because of your—

yeah, so that's the second question that they had, um, Oh no, that was the first one.

Yeah.

So just how you, you don't really see it a lot of times. You've been, you know, Cindy, only 5 years young as a Christian, right? Like, but now you can look back and you can see all of the blessings from all of the years that you never even paid attention to or didn't consider that there was a fluid movement that was happening. It was a part of something bigger. Yeah. So the final group was looking at the verse Genesis 15:6, which Abraham expresses his trust in the Lord. So two questions. The first is, when was a time when you had no choice but to trust in God's path for you?

So we both immediately said with our finances every day, especially the last three years. Literally for both of us, we both said three years. Um, and it's a daily trusting because sometimes it's like the, the fishes and the loaves going on, and there's no one that can do anything about it but the Lord to let— just let it go. And I actually have a very specific example. Um, I went on a missions trip 2 years ago to Mexico City, and just, yeah, like a lesson I learned in how it worked out in his time.

Yeah, so that's the next question is what are the lessons that you actually learned as the situation was working itself out in God's time.

In God's time. Because like I said, at one point I was just sitting there trying to— like, I tried several times to kind of figure out how I was going to do it. You know, you Google like fundraisers and how am I going to ask my family for money, and eventually align with the timing of the Lord. Because you're focused on that, you're focused on the steps of faith, and he's working it out. If I sit and work, think about the working it out, then I'm not taking any steps in faith at all, and then I'm not being an example.

And that starts putting you in a mood. I mean, then that's, you know, that's the pressure and the anxiety and the— that goes along with trying to— right.

So yeah, I mean, if you're over here trying to help God, then you're not over here encouraging and helping others, and you're not doing the trust part. You're not working on the relationship. You're not all the things, your purpose. So that was a lesson that I learned as well.

Thank you. Does anyone have a Bible? That they can open to Genesis 15:17. We're going to read the closing few and just finish there. Susan, do you want to pick up at 15:17 and just read through the end?

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between between the pieces.

So that means that the covenant is made. That was that beautiful symbolism right there. We always— we don't really get a smoking fire pot, do we, when the covenant is made? But sometimes we do get those answers.

So I think there's a feeling we get though.

Yep. So God's movements really declare that finalization but Abram's movements didn't really declare anything.

Was it just because— I thought it was more Sarah that was pressuring Abraham. I think Sarah was the one that was—

she was very instrumental. Well, she also felt burdened by this whole thing too, because I'm kind of a big part of this puzzle and she felt like, you know, it wasn't gonna happen for her. She's going, well, there's no reason why you can't still father, so here, take my maid servant.

She felt that she was making a sacrifice, I think, to fulfill.

Well, you start to panic and think you have to help it along. Maybe we didn't hear it right, or maybe this. And plus, us women, we're just really resourceful in that way as well.

I mean, you know, it's not happening, it's not happening, then maybe I just gotta do it this way.

Go take care of that.

And then honestly, like, controlling, resourceful.

And as a respectable husband, he probably was like, well, maybe you're onto something, I guess. You know, like, there are probably lots of times when you can manipulate a situation or manipulate your husband wrongfully, I guess.

Manipulation is one thing. Telling your husband to have sex with somebody else is a whole different program.

Yeah, but she did it in a manipulating way.

Like, it's like God made you this problem.

Here's your maid servant.

Happy birthday! So with, um, yeah, we're gonna move on. When Abram's talking with God, did he attempt to like negotiate the terms? God is like, hey, this is gonna happen. Was Abram like, yeah, okay, cool? Or did he actually negotiate a little bit? Did they go back and forth at all?

I thought he doubted.

He doubted?

He did.

I felt like Abram always did what God said, but it was like, all the time.

Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless?

Because God has to give you—

well, I think the doubt is saying, when he kept saying, I'm so old, I'm so old, like, you got a secret you want to tell me? You know what I mean? I'm too old.

So he didn't necessarily negotiate, it was just pure doubt.

Yeah.

Whereas I think a lot of situations that we face as humans, we do try to negotiate our way through it.

Maybe it was he just wanted—

physically impossible.

There was doubt, but he also wanted more information, a little bit more information. Just, you know, so there was maybe not as much faith that it was going to happen unless you give me a little more information to make me feel comfortable that it's going to happen.

Like, how are you going to pull this off?

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Tell me the whole story instead of, like she says, the steps.

I want— tell me the whole story and then I'll know and then I'll comfortable instead of trusting and having faith that, okay, right.

Like if he said at that point it will happen in 30 years, right? He said he was going to bear a son, never gave him a time frame, nothing. If he would have said it'll be 30 years, he'd have just waited 30 years, like, okay, 30 years is coming, you know. Now it was like, yeah, it was like every minute, every day, right?

Now he has to have faith that it's going to happen, right?

And wait. And after that many years, it would be like, are you kidding?

Yeah. So what's the last thing that Abram actually says in this chapter?

To God?

What's the last thing Abram says?

Is that when he says, how can I know that I will be in possession of it?

Does he say anything else after that?

Verse 8. But Abram replied, O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?

Yeah, so Abram's last words, he's still just lost in doubt, right? And then God kind of comes through and shares with him of like what's going to happen and what the plan is. And then God passes the flame, right? And then the covenant is made. But did Abram actually agree?

To this covenant?

Doesn't say. Doesn't a covenant go like both ways?

Well, usually. However, does God need any of us to agree to make a covenant with him?

Well, chapter 6, verse 6 says Abram believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness.

So it may not have been verbal.

But that was before he said, you know, How will I know that I'll be in possession of it? So it's kind of like, I believe you, Lord, but how will I know?

Yeah, and don't we do that?

Like, I believe you, but yeah, but yeah, like, how are you gonna do it? Yeah, like, right, yeah, gimme, gimme, gimme. I mean, even, I mean, we, we think we have an instant society now. We're not, we haven't come that far.

That was one thing that I remember reading through the Bible.

I'm like, We're not as civilized as we think we are. Like, we still have a long way to go.

But all the stories too just bring out and show you that we're all human. I mean, there is the human side to all of this, you know. And for him to— God to explain that to us, like, these, you know, when we have our doubts, these people in this Bible were human. They doubted, they whatever, but keep on pushing.

Yeah, we just change the clothes, right?

Right, exactly.

And so then we have one last piece to look at here. The land that was promised to Abram, it was tangible. What are the historical context implications of Abram now owning the land?

Well, all of his descendants, they're— it's their land forever.

Do you think he was excited or do you think he was fearful?

I would think excited.

He just wanted proof.

You know, that's like being an heir. You know, an heir, your heirs are getting your land. Land was a big thing back then, right?

If I remember right, he had done some traveling, so he had been in this land. So he knew what this land was like. Later on, it's just is described as the land of milk and honey, the land that's just overflowing in abundance. So if he had been through there, he's gonna know that's really good country.

Forever. Yeah.

So he was excited.

That's a good place to set up shop.

And back then, if you ever— in some of the stories, and I can't even remember exactly which ones, when land was involved even when they were against each other, like when kings or whatever, it was like this was, you know, this was supposed to be David's land, or this was supposed to be so-and-so's land, and they gave it back. You know, weird, even with battles and stuff.

Yeah, that was Levitical law at one point that you had to give people their land back.

Right, land was like the Jubilee.

Yeah, land was— it was all about land, right?

So the key points that we can take away from Abrams' chapter here is the importance of really having that strong historical understanding when you go to analyze something. Knowing about Sarah's relationship with her handmaiden and understanding what that meant at the time, understanding that his heir would actually continue continue forward for generations to come. His descendants would stay on. We learned about different ways to hear the voice of God and to discern his will for you. Ways to express your doubts to God without, without showing distrust. That's a hard one. Abram expressed— I mean, he was clearly doubtful, but in his heart he believed, right? So you can, you can believe and still express some doubt. The importance of trusting God's timing instead of our own. And what's the sense in negotiating with God? Abram didn't really negotiate, right? He may have doubted, but he didn't negotiate. And researching situations so that you have a full understanding of what's at stake, both short-term short-term and long-term before you actually attach emotion to that decision. So we have discovered different ways to trust God through the different seasons of life, in times of doubt and in times of need. We saw how a prominent biblical figure was with the living God and yet still expressed doubt right to his face. It shows us that humans are fallen, that we're fickle creatures, and— and that we may never truly trust where we should. So thinking about Abram's fears that God would let him down, what are some ways that others look to you? Can these lessons remind us of the importance of keeping our promises even to people who perhaps don't deserve them? So taking this away, this week we are going to use the story of Abram to help us better the world. I want you to step outside of your comfort zone and recognize how much God actually cares for you in times of question. So we're going to give you some simple tasks that you can choose from. You are going to pick one, and I want you to keep it up for 28 days straight. You ready? There's 5 that you can pick from.

Oh, do we write these down?

Nope, you can just pick it and commit to yourself. So I dare you to Brush your teeth with the opposite hand.

Screw that up even.

Next.

I mean, that makes sense.

Put your shoes on as the very last thing before you head out. Well, that's what I do.

I never do that.

Yes, I got one.

The very last thing?

Yeah. I'm gonna forget stuff.

We're gonna remind each other this next Okay, pretend like you have your phone and hold it up to your head. Now hold it on the opposite. Do the opposite. I don't know if I ever hold it to my head. Mine's always on my left. If I were to do this, I would try to do it right.

This is actually really— will be really good for my tennis elbow. It probably would.

Yes, I need to start using my left hand. You could commit to carrying your groceries instead of using a shopping cart.

I do that, and then I end up trying to have to run back and find something, and I Dump it out.

And then the last one is when you wake up, drink a full glass of water and then meditate on God's Word while you're drinking it in the morning. So pick one of those 5 things. Let it challenge you. Let it shake you up. Let yourself have a little bit of doubt. Don't negotiate it. Just have those doubts. And with that, we are going to close in prayer.

How big is the glass of water?

How long? 16 ounces.

Is it this big of a glass?

I'm the whole negotiating.

April didn't negotiate.

Wait a second, how long do I need to do it for?

Let's bow our heads in prayer. Dear Lord, thank you for the opportunity that you've provided for this group to come together in your name, that we may listen and feel your glorious words moving within us. As we move to part from this place and head back into our busy, busy lives, We ask that you allow us to take the lesson of Abram with us, that we may calm our worries and truly trust that you have us and our children every step of the way. Be with us tonight as we seek to live out the lessons of your Son in every way. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

You just made me think of my husband.