Back To Bethel
Genesis 12:7-13:4
The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring, I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.
8 From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to the LORD there, and he called on the name of the LORD.
9 Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev.
10 There was a famine in teh land, so Abram went down to Egypt to stay there for a while because the famine in teh land was severe. —Genesis 12:6–9 (CSB)
Genuine faith is always
Abram’s journey shows us why faith fails and how God is faithful to bring us back
THE CAUSE OF TRIALS
In a broken world
But when God brings the test, don’t lean on the
God may not be the cause of your suffering but he can use your suffering to further his
THE BLUEPRINT FOR COMPROMISE
When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are.
12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live.
13 Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.”
14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
15 Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s household.
16 He treated Abram well because of her, and Abram acquired flocks and herds, male and female donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels. —Genesis 12:11–16 (CSB)
Spiritual Compromise….
1. begins with a believable
2. is motivated by
3. results in collateral
4. continues because of Satan’s
5. blinds you to the
THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD
But the LORD struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife, Sarai.
18 So Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?
19 Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!”
20 Then Pharaoh gave his men orders about him, and they sent him away with his wife and all he had. —Genesis 12:17–20 (CSB)
Thankfully, even to the faithless, God is
Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev—he, his wife, and all he had, and Lot with him. 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.
3 He went by stages from the Negev to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been, 4 to the site where he had built the altar.
And Abram called on the name of the LORD there. —Genesis 13:1–4 (CSB)
To receive that grace we must…
1. Turn away from our
2. Turn back towards our
3. Come down to the
4. Call on the name of the