Sermon Discussion Questions
Questions:
1. If you won the lottery what would you do with the money?
READ Genesis 12:1-9
We know that Abraham, like many of the patriarchs, was a very wealthy man, very rich in silver and gold (Gen. 13:2). He owned vast herds of cattle, so much so that when divided his herds with Lot. they had to be 50 miles apart to avoid feeding in the same territory. He also commanded the attention of regional rulers and controlled a private army of several hundred people.
2. Reading the text: where did Abraham’s wealth, power and influence come from? Read verses 1-2. Did he start out that way?
3. (verses 2 and 3). What did God promise him he would become? What do you think God meant that he promised to bless him and to make him a blessing. How are the two ideas connected in these verses?
4. God told Abraham to leave Harran where his family had settled and to travel to Canaan. In what way were the promises of God to bless him and make him a blessing dependent on his emigration to Canaan?
5. Can you think of ways in which God’s blessings on your life have similarly depended on you trusting and acting on what God has asked you to do?
6. In verses 6-9, Moses lays out the challenges that Abraham encountered in Canaan, at Bethel and near Ai. After those, Abraham took his entire herd (with all their need for grazing land and water) and moved them into a desert (the Negev). We often think that the place of God’s blessings and powerful work in our lives comes during a time when there are few obstacles, how is that idea challenged by these verses?
7. Ask the LORD to remind you (whatever your worldly wealth) what treasures you have in Christ. With the many ways God has blessed you, how are you going to use that blessing to bless others? How do you think God means you to? Finish by thanking Him that He will use what He has given you for His glory in others coming to know about Jesus.