God is with you. Do you believe it?

Isaac, the son of promise, is living in the land of promise with his wife Rebekah, who God led to him by divine providence, and his two sons born to them by divine intervention. But when another famine plagues the land of Canaan, will Isaac repeat the failures or the faith of his father Abraham?

This week we begin reading through Genesis 26 and watch how Isaac learns to depend on God for all his needs. We'll see Isaac follow in the footsteps of his father, Abraham, both in his failures and his faith, and see how God's blessings on Isaac's life are inseparable from God's presence in Isaac's life. And we'll see how the same God who was with Isaac is with us today who are called by the name of Christ and ask ourselves how our own walks of faith would be different if we really believed that God is present with us.

Who exactly are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

Abraham is known today as the father of faith for many believers around the world. And Jacob, who was renamed Israel, became the namesake of the nation of Israel throughout time until today. But who was Isaac, and what can we learn from the son of the promise given to Abraham millennia ago?

This week we finish reading through Genesis 25 and learn about the miraculous birth of Jacob and Esau. We'll see how Isaac is a good example of a spiritual leader in his household and we'll study the origin of the struggle between Jacob and Esau that would last through the generations in the nations that would descend from them. And lastly we'll look at how God chooses to extend grace to mankind, a grace that we cannot earn, only receive.

Abraham was how old when he died?!

One hundred years after God promised Abraham a land for him and his descendants, the only part of that land Abraham owned was the cave and field where he and Sarah were buried. But as Abraham walked with God year by year, his trust in God deepened until his life would become a testimony to the faithfulness of God to those who trust in Him.

This week we begin reading through Genesis 25 and see the result of faith in the twilight years of Abraham's life. We'll read two recorded genealogies that speak of the fulfilment of God's promise to make Abraham the father of many nations; we'll see how Abraham became an example of faith throughout all generations, and we'll ask ourselves what kind of legacy we are leaving behind in the choices we make today.

How can I tell God is working in my life?

Abraham lived and long a full life, having his faith tested and proved steadfast. After burying his wife, Sarah, and seeing his journey on earth coming to an end, Abraham looks to the future of his beloved son, Isaac, and sends his servant to find a good and faithful wife for Isaac.

This week we continue our study through Genesis with chapter 24. We'll look at how Abraham's servant practiced the same faith as Abraham and how that faith allowed him to see the hand of God guiding his way as he faithfully served his master. And then we'll look at our own journey's of faith to see how God works in our own life, not often through grand miracles, but through the ordinary, everyday events of our lives.

Faith Conquers Death!

Do you believe it? Since the fall of man, death has been a relentless presence to life on earth. The greatest men of faith were not immune from grief and death. For over 60 years, Abraham and Sarah lived through life together as they followed after God through the ups and downs of life. Until the day that death came to separate them.

This week we read through Genesis 23 and see the record of the death of Abraham's wife, Sarah. We'll look at how Abraham grieved for the loss his wife and study how even the act of burying Sarah in the promised land was a declaration of faith in the certainty that God would give the land to Abraham's descendants through Isaac. And then we'll ask ourselves if we are keeping our focus on this present world that is passing away or the eternal hope of heaven where Christ is.

Which is more important: obedience or sacrifice?

Abraham's journey of faith had persevered over many decades through many spiritual highs and spiritual failures when God's promise of a son was fulfilled in the birth of Isaac. But after years of peace living in the blessing of God's fulfilled promise, God had one more test for Abraham to prove the quality of Abraham's faith.

This week we begin reading Genesis 22 and study the greatest spiritual milestone in the life of Abraham. We'll see God test Abraham's faith by calling him to sacrifice Isaac and we'll study how this test of faith for Abraham became a picture of the redeeming work of Christ Jesus for the salvation of the world!

When will God finish the work that He started?

Twenty-five years after God first called Abraham and Abraham set out on his journey of faith, God's promise that Abraham would have a son by Sarah his wife is finally fulfilled! Unfortunately, the miraculous birth of Isaac doesn't mean that Abraham and his family go on to live happily ever after. But does the continuing conflicts in Abraham's household mean God has stopped working in Abraham's life?

This week we continue our journey through Genesis with chapter 21 and the birth of Isaac, the son of promise. We'll see God continue to work in Abraham's life through the blessings and the conflicts to produce a faith in Abraham more precious than gold. And we'll see how Abraham's story parallels the work of sanctification that God works in our own lives today.

If I'm supposed to be dead to sin, why do I keep sinning?

Abraham, a great man of faith who left his home at God's command and saved his nephew from invading armies. The man whom God counted righteous simply for believing that God would do the things He promised. After God visited Abraham and shared a meal with him and promised him a son by Sarah his wife, Abraham finds himself wandering again from the land of promise and falling into old habits of deception.

This week we continue our study through Genesis in chapter 20. We'll see how even a great man of faith like Abraham can easily fall back into old habits of sin, and how God's promises remain true despite Abraham's sin. We'll look at practical steps we can take--not to become sinless but to sin less, and see that even when we are faithless, God remains faithful.