01/07/2026
What choices do people make that do not enhance their fellowship with God?
Choose to Obey
Genesis 12:1 - 4 (NKJV) 1Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
What advice or comments do you think friends and family members may have made to Abram when he announced his plan to leave?
What’s wrong with this town?
You don’t know any people where you are going!
I think you’ve gone off your rocker
You won’t even know the language. How will you talk to anyone?
God wouldn’t really ask anyone to go to that place!
Why would you want to do something like that?
You can be a blessing to the people here just as well as you can be a blessing to those people!
Do you know what those people are really like?
God gave Abram 7 promises when He asked him to leave. What are they?
I will make you a great nation
I will bless you
I will make your name great
You shall be a blessing
I will bless those who bless you
I will curse him who curses you
In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed
When we choose to follow God, which of these promises apply to our lives? How?
I will make you a great nation
When we are doing what God wants done, we get to be a part of a great nation and fellowship with other believers in a special way
Darrell, Christmas on the Mexican border
I will bless you
We are always blessed when we are closer to God
I will make your name great
People are always watching us to see if our walk matches our talk. If it does we will have a better reputation and name in the community.
You shall be a blessing
When we follow God’s leading we will be a blessing to people we come in contact with.
I will bless those who bless you
Matthew 10:41 - 42 (HCSB) 41Anyone who£ welcomes a prophet£ because he is a prophet£ will receive a prophet’s reward. And anyone who£ welcomes a righteous person because he’s righteous£ will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42And whoever gives£ just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple£ £ —I assure you: He will never lose his reward!”
God blesses those who bless Christians, especially those who choose to become believers
I will curse him who curses you
God was giving special protection to Abram here.
Did you notice his age? (75 years old)
Acts 27:20 - 25 (HCSB) 20For many days neither sun nor stars appeared, and the severe storm kept raging; finally all hope that we would be saved was disappearing. 21Since many were going without food, Paul stood up among them and said, “You men should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete and sustain this damage and loss. 22Now I urge you to take courage, because there will be no loss of any of your lives, but only of the ship. 23For this night an angel of the God I belong to and serve stood by me,£ 24saying, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar. And, look! God has graciously given you all those who are sailing with you.’ 25Therefore, take courage, men, because I believe God that it will be just the way it was told to me.£
God gives special provision to Christians that they may finish the work he has assigned them to do on earth.
In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed
This was the promise of Jesus coming through Abram’s linage
Choose to Worship
Genesis 12:5 - 9 (NKJV) 5Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. 6Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as £the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. 7Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. 9So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the £South.
Abram is traveling now. As he travels he takes time to worship. What prompts these worship times?
7Then the Lord appeared to Abram
Special moments with God
Have there been times in your life when you felt especially close to God and just chose to spontaneously praise Him?
I can remember driving from home to Mt Vernon on I57. It was fall, the leaves were beautiful, I had Christian music on the radio, and the whole trip was a worship experience
8He pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord
Maybe he did this whenever he stopped moving long enough
Do we stop moving long enough to worship God?
What did Abram do that is considered worship?
5Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan.
He obeyed God
7Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.”
He listened to God
And there he built an altar to the Lord. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
He acknowledged and worshiped God publicly in the sight of his family, friends, and strangers
In another Sunday school class I taught I asked if the class would like to meet in the mall in MT Vernon or at a camp ground at Rend Lake if I could get permission to do so. I did not have a single taker.
Do you think I would have any takers if I made the same offer to all of you?
Why are we reluctant to Worship God in a completely public place?
What constitutes worship?
Singing
Preaching
Praying
What is our part in worship?
Focusing on God
Participating with our minds and heart
Softening our heart so God can speak to us
Choose to worship God right now.
