CELL NOTES 7/7/08

ICE BREAKER

When did you first leave home? What for, and what did you take with you?

OR

What do you hope to be (or were you) doing at age 75?

THEME

God’s call on Abram

Reading Gen 12 : 1 – 9

SERMON OUTLINE

1) Imaginary scene of being summoned by the boss and told you were to move on to an unknown destination to start a whole new operation.

2) God called Abram to move on – lock, stock and barrel, to an unknown destination, taking everything with him. He was aged 75 at the time!

3) He entered Canaan and kept going until he reached Shechem, where God spoke to him and he built an altar.

4) Shechem became a crucial place in Israel’s history. Joseph was buried there ( bones recently found?), became centre of Samaritan worship etc. Today it is the Palestinian town of Nablus.

5) Abram faced challenges :-

            Believing God in the face of practical circumstances.

            Canaanites were in the land – opposition and discouragement

            Perseverance in the face of difficulty (His trip to Egypt)

            Exchanging the known for the unknown.

6) “God is everywhere in the universe except for 1 place. Your personal comfort zone.”

7) How does God’s call work for us? Eph 2 : 10

8) All called to right relationship with God, to be witnesses and to be godly.

9) All have a specific call as well – remembering that God has made us who we are, and the call is likely to reflect our gifts and personality.

10) Cliff Richard and Jackie Pullinger.

11) How do I know what God is saying?

            Be attentive to the still small voice.

            Act on what you feel God is saying

            Remember we are called as the people. God has made us.

            Abram had a funeral before he could move on. There may need to be a “funeral” for something in our lives for the same to happen for us.

QUESTIONS OF APPLICATION

Read the passage and extend it to v 20. What is God saying to you through this, or did He say to you on Sunday?

1) Which of the promises Abram received appeal to you most? What promise in the Bible means most to you?

2) When have you responded to God’s call, by stepping outside your comfort zone? How might He be calling you in that way today?

3) Is there a funeral you need to hold?

4) To what place, people, task might God be calling you now?