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The great bible discovery series6/16/2023 ![]() Our family? Our friends? Our neighbors? The homeless man on the street? The store clerk? Our grandchildren (the one’s way off in the future)?Ībraham and Sarah teach us to respond faithfully to God’s call, even when it doesn’t make sense even when our trust wavers. We share God’s promises they belong to us. Have you ever wondered how you can be a blessing? ![]() Then there probably were times Abraham (God had given him that new name as a sign to remember God’s promises) wondered about “blessing the world.” As he leaned back his head to adequately view the marveling display of glimmering stars overhead, he wondered to himself, “What did God mean by that? I will be blessed… so that I can be a blessing? How can I be a blessing?” Copious kin! I don’t even have a son! I’m too old.” ( Genesis 15:1-5). I can imagine him grumbling to his childless self as he tended to the goats, “The Lord God can bless me all to pieces, but it won’t do any good. I am sure there were times when Abraham’s doubts about God’s plan spilled over in frustration. What about the kids have you ever thought about your grandchildren? Have the adults in your family ever thought about their grandchildren-yet-to-be-born? “I’ll tell them how I didn’t see how, with all of those Canaanites around, the land would ever be ours! Ha!” Pack up and move far from here, and raise up a great big family generation after generation! I promise to bless you richly, to give you much goodness! And in turn, you will bless the world!” ( Genesis 12:2.)ĭo you suppose that Abram often thought about those numerous descendants - the ones God had promised to him? I can just imagine him chuckling to himself as he watched the sheep, “When those grandchildren come, I’ll tell them all about the altar I built at the great oak tree in Moreh” ( Genesis 12:6-7). “I want you and your wife to be a part of something really big. Once upon a time there was a man named Abram who heard from God. Gather the family together and tell this story. Posted in Abraham & Sarah, Daily Life, Gratitude, Thanksgiving 1 Comment Become the blessing If you see an inappropriate ad, please report it to Include the URL, the date/time the ad appeared, and a screenshot of the ad. Blessing box photo from my archives.Īre you seeing ads? They are not from me! They are placed by WordPress, who otherwise offers a free platform from which to share lots of good-ness. What are other ways your family makes gratitude purposeful?īalancing rocks by Viewminder, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License. If your child didn’t get to make one in our Art Workshop for the story of Abraham & Sarah, you can view the lesson here and download the instructions here. Why do you suppose we do this? How can we break into a new focus of being grateful? With older children discuss ways people often build “monuments” to themselves or to their stuff.(Photo on right is at the Nelson home around Easter time.) Allow touching and rearranging and additions and subtractions. The Life Application Bible tells us that Abram built altars to “remember that God was at the center of his life.” Build a different sort of “altar.” Fill a space in your home with reminders of thankfuls.Allow your rock pile to be re-built on a daily basis!.Take the next step and write thanksgivings on your rocks with a permanent marker, or use a glue and water mix (Modge Podge) to apply cut out pictures to your rocks.Make a pile of your rocks naming each one as a thanksgiving to God. Once back at home, in a family gathering (perhaps at the dinner table), read about Abram’s altar building in Genesis 12:6-8 or Genesis 13:3-4 or Genesis 13:18. Here are some ways to do this with your family: In the season of Thanksgiving, how about we be as deliberate, and make our gratitude be purposeful. He would use these altars in his worship to God and to remind himself of God’s promises of blessing. A physical stalwart to remind him of an encounter with God. He deliberately heaped soil and rock, forming a reminder. No, Abraham wasn’t piling rocks in an artful manner such as the photo above. In reading the story of Abraham and Sarah, have you noticed that Abraham has a habit? He stacks stones.
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