Abraham’s Journey from Ur to Canaan, by József Molnár, 1850
(Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest)
József Molnár (1821-1899) was a Hungarian painter. He was born in Zsámbék and studied in Venice, Rome and Munich. After his studies, he settled down in Stuttgart, Germany, where he earned money by painting portraits. He returned to Hungary in 1853 and started painting landscapes and historic paintings in Pest. Molnár died in Budapest.
This painting depicts Abraham’s journey toward the Promised Land after God called him out of his homeland in Ur of the Chaldeans. At age 75, he took his possessions and set out for a place that he had never seen. Notice Molnár’s depiction of mothers and children all around Abraham, yet at this point in his life, he had no offspring of his own. This is a dominant theme throughout the Abraham narrative in Genesis 12-25.
Call to Worship – Isaiah 41:8-14
8 “But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
you descendants of Abraham my friend,
9 I took you from the ends of the earth,
from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;
I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
11 “All who rage against you
will surely be ashamed and disgraced;
those who oppose you
will be as nothing and perish.
12 Though you search for your enemies,
you will not find them.
Those who wage war against you
will be as nothing at all.
13 For I am the Lord your God
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.
14 Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob,
little Israel, do not fear,
for I myself will help you,” declares the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Invocation
O God, our refuge, our strength, our help; You are the bedrock upon which our lives are built, the mighty fortress which surrounds and protects. Though the earth should change, the mountains shake, the waters rise, we will not fear.
Help us, O Lord, to live fearlessly amidst the storm. But in so doing, guide us as followers of the Prince of Peace, the Servant King, away from a fortress mentality, where outsiders are enemies, toward a Kingdom where Love is the final word.
On bended knee we sing praise to the One You have exalted, the Lamb who was slain for our sin. May the doors of this mighty fortress open wide this hour, that the music of the Kingdom may resound through this valley and into our hearts, our homes, our communities, our world. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Come Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, Mount of God’s redeeming love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer; Hither by Thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger, Bought me with His precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.
Words: Robert Robinson (1758)
Music: John Wyeth’s Repository of Sacred Music, 1813
Children’s Sermon
Prayer and Intercession
My God,
I bless you that you have given me the eye of faith,
to see you as Father,
to know you as a covenant God,
to experience your love planted in me;
For faith is the grace of union
by which I spell out my entitlement to you:
Faith casts my anchor upwards where I trust in you
and engage you to be my Lord.
Be pleased to live and move within me,
breathing in my prayers,
inhabiting my praises,
speaking in my words,
moving in my actions,
living in my life,
causing me to grow in grace.
Your bounteous goodness has helped me believe,
but my faith is weak and wavering,
its light dim,
its steps tottering,
its increase slow,
its backslidings frequent;
It should scale the heavens but lies groveling in the dust.
Lord, fan this divine spark into glowing flame.
When faith sleeps, my heart becomes an unclean thing,
the fount of every loathsome desire,
the cage of unclean lusts
all fluttering to escape,
the noxious tree of deadly fruit,
the open wayside of earthly tares.
Lord, awake faith to put forth its strength
until all heaven fills my soul
and all impurity is cast out.
Faith from The Valley of Vision
Please take a few moments to pray for:
- Brad Paradee and Howard Deuso, who have COVID-19
- Donna Waguespack, our missionary in Mexico
- Healthcare workers
- Other personal concerns
Scripture Reading – Genesis 12
The Call of Abram
12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. 9 And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.
Abram and Sarai in Egypt
10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” 14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” 20 And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.
Sermon
Click title for this week’s sermon:
Abram: A Man of Faith and a Man of Fear by Pastor Vawn Edele
Here I Am, Lord
I, the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin, My hand will save.
I, who made the stars of night, I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear my light to them? Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart.
I, the Lord of snow and rain, I have borne my people’s pain.
I have wept for love of them. They turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone, Give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak my word to them. Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart.
I, the Lord of wind and flame, I will tend the poor and lame,
I will set a feast for them. My hand will save.
Finest bread I will provide Till their hearts be satisfied.
I will give my life to them. Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart.
I will hold your people in my heart.
Words and music by Daniel L. Schutte
© 1981 D. Schutte and New Dawn Music
CCLI # 2487144
Abram: A Man of Faith and a Man of Fear (Sermon Text)
Today as we return to our Genesis series we will begin to look at the life story of Abram. Be prepared : it will take us several weeks to complete his story. In actuality, his story is still being told in the lifes’ of Christians, Jews and Arabs throughout the world today. To begin Abrams story I would like us to return to a portion of scripture we read 2 weeks ago.
Genesis 11:27-32
Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot.. Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.
Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.
We see that Abram experiences 4 traumatic events. First Haran, one of Abrams brothers dies. We don’t know what caused his death, probably not from old age, which would leave either he died in an accident, some type of physical ailment or suicide. This leaves Abram taking Lot, Harans son, under his care. He not only experienced this loss but certainly witnessed the pain it caused his parents. No parent expects their children to die before them. I experienced this first hand when my step brother died before his time and I saw the pain it caused my step mother.The scripture says, “Haran died in the presence of his father.” It sounds like Abrams father was there when Haran took his last breath. A terrible thing to witness. Second, we read that Sarai, Abrams’ wife, has not been able to have any children because of a physical condition. Third, his family moves.Moving is not necessarily traumatic, it can be exciting. Consider why they may have moved. It most likely wasn’t a job relocation assignment. Perhaps for economic or quality of life reasons they moved. Perhaps a relative encouraged them to relocate to be near them. Or perhaps it was just too hard for his father to stay where his son died and he wanted a fresh start. Their move wasn’t just to the next town, it was to a place they had never seen. The plan was to relocate 1,000 miles away on the other side of the Syrian desert. The family had to take the long way around the desert. With modern transportation we could make that trip in just a few days. But for them it would take about 2 months. With full anticipation of going to Cannan, they stop about half way in Harran. Why? One suggestion is that the town had the same name as Abrams brother and it was too hard for his father to move on from there. Or perhaps they found a great piece of land to settle down on. And the last trauma Abram experiences is the death of his father. Yes ,Terah had lived a long life, but losing a parent at any age is hard. Needless to say, Abram had experienced a number of troubling events up to this point in his life.
Let’s continue to read on
Genesis 12:1-9
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.
We begin by seeing God chooses to enter Abrams’ life by talking to him. I believe it was totally unexpected and undeserved. We don’t read that Abram in any was searching and listening for God to talk to him. It was intentionally initiated by God with a purpose in mind. To reveal His plans and promises to Abram. The plan initially called for obedience on Abrams part. An instruction to go. To leave what was comfortable, his surviving brother, his uncles and aunts, his cousins, and his friends, He was also to leave the house and property he inherited from his father. God wanted Abram to surrender what he had and trust in what He would give him
There is another area God wanted Abram to surrender. It is not recorded here. In order to see this, we need to step forward a few hundred years to Joshua, one of the leaders of the nation of Israel. God wanted Abram to leave anything that interfered with what God wanted.
Joshua 24:2
And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.
Abram needed to distance himself from these other gods he and his family served. Not just physical distancing but a distancing of the heart and allegiance. A total abandonment of his gods. God’s plan involved Abram knowing, trusting and serving God and to have no other gods before me.
God wanted Abram to not only go and leave this behind, but to go to a land that God says , “I will show you.” This is the first in a number of “I wills” God declares in our reading this morning. When God says, “I will” he is not just saying ,”I can, I have the ability and power to do so.” Just because you can do something doesn’t always mean you will. God does not say perhaps, might, should or lets see how it works itself out. No when God says, “I will” it can be thought of as if it is already done. Each of these “I wills” are projections into the future, both near and the distant future. Abram can see these as Gods blessing promises to him, to a nation and to the world. These promises are not conditional or performance based on Abram meeting and maintaining a certain standard. Except the first I will show a land. He needed to go in order to see the land.
Note what God was asking, Abram to do was not beyond his ability, like building an ark. Remember he moved once already in his life. But it still required faith in God. So Abram trusts in Gods “I wills” not just in word but action, and he says , “I will.” He puts his faith in action. Imagine with me for a moment. After hearing the message today -go home pack up all your belongings, (That in itself can be stressful, so much stuff) rent a moving truck, don’t take a map or any type of GPS device and just drive. Each day wait for instruction and follow them. You don’t know when or where you will stop each day or your final destination. Thats what God was asking of Abram. Let me read to you what Hebrews says about the faith of Abram as it relates to this journey.
Hebrews 11:8
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Notice he was being asked to go into the unknown. Not aware of what the land would look like, how productive it would be, how large or small it would be.It was full of unknowns and risks. Faith typically has an element of the unknown. Part 2 of a recent film includes a song that tells of going into the unknown.
Cliick the link below to enjoy this clip.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=into+the+unknown
Along the journey we read that Abram sets up 2 altars. These were much more than just a pile of rocks. It was an altar of sacrifice and thanksgiving to God for his leading and provision. They were a remembrance monument to God. A Monument to remember that God had appeared to him. A monument to remember he called upon God. A monument to the relationship he had with God.
Our story continues.
Genesis 12:10-20
Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.
Abram faces his first trauma. The man of faith wavers and becomes a man of fear. A severe famine is in the land. Probably as a result of a drought in the land. And the resources to sustain life could only be found in Egypt. So he chooses to travel there with his family only temporarily until the famine ends. Just before entering Egypt his thinking leads him to fear for his life and he must come up with a solution. He believes Pharaoh will kill him because Pharaoh will see how beautiful his wife is and take her as his own. Even in her 60’s she still was beautiful. I know someone in my house approaching that age who is beautiful. So he devises a plan to protect himself. ”Sarai tell Pharaoh you are my sister.” In other words, “Sara I need you to lie to protect me.” They wouldn’t kill him if he was here brother. They would actually pay him for her.This deception actually wasn’t fully a lie. Sarai was his sister, half sister. This is not the last time he will use this deception to protect himself. Here is what he says in the future situation.
Genesis 20:12-13
Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. And when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, “He is my brother.
So it was not a total lie more like a half truth. But we know what a half truth is don’t we. Ultimately he was not trusting God to handle the problem. And took matters into his own hands.
As the story continues the truth is exposed. His deception brings consequences to Pharoah. Great plagues. We can only imagine what they might have been. Abrams sinful choice is now affecting someone else. And it is revealed to Pharaoh as to the reason behind the plagues. And he sends Abram, Sarai, the livestock and servants away. God was certainly gracious to Abram and kept his promises even though Abram in this moment abandoned God.
In closing, we all will face moments filled with unknowns throughout our lifes. Whether it is an unknown God asks us to step into or an unknown that steps into us. We make a choice to respond in faith or fear. Fear of the unknown tends to lead us to respond outside of Gods desire. In fear we take the situation into our own hands to resolve. Or in fear we freeze and don’t move ahead. In all unknowns we can place of faith and choices in the promises of God.
Listen to the “I wills “ , Gods’ promises spoken to Israel through Isaiah, we have from our Call to Worship .
Isaiah 41:10-13
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”
Let us take these words to heart in our present pandemic with its unknowns. Have faith and fear not.