Winter Quarter Sunday School 2010 s9
WINTER QUARTER SUNDAY SCHOOL 2011-2012
THEME: GOD ESTABLISHES A FAITHFUL COVENANT PEOPLE
Unit One: Through His Covenant Promises. Lessons 1-4
Unit Two: Through His Covenant Protection. Lessons 5-9
Unit Three: Through His Covenant Perfection. Lessons 10-13
“GOD’S COVENANT COMMITMENT COMMENCED”
Sunday School Lesson No. I, December 4, 2011
Presented by Rev. Frank Davis, III, Pastor-Teacher
Lesson Text: Genesis 12:1-9
Required Reading: Genesis 12:1-9
Memory Text: Genesis 12:2, “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.”
Reliable Resources: Precepts for Living by UMI; Union Gospel Press Expositor and Illuminator; Libronix Electronic Library; Standard Lesson Commentary
INTRODUCTION
Beloved, we are entering the Winter Quarter with a study on Abraham and the covenant Jehovah made with him and his descendants. Abraham is the progenitor of the Nation of Israel and the father of all who exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. According to Hebrews 11:8, “Abraham heard the voice of Jehovah, believed and stepped out by faith.” He left all the conveniences of home to follow the Lord’s command and go by faith to a land to which Jehovah would lead him.
The great consideration about Abraham is that he believed God and obeyed His commands, and according to Genesis 12:3, “all the families of the earth would be blessed.” We’ll say more about this later, but the word “covenant” will be used often in this lesson series and should be defined. According to Baker’s Dictionary of Theology: “Covenant” is defined as “a gracious undertaking entered into by God for the benefit and blessing of man, and specifically of those men who by faith receive the promise and commit themselves to the obligations which this undertaking involves.” According to H. L. Wilmington, God covenants with Abram (Abraham) to grant 3 important things: “Soil, Seed and A Savior.”
Let us examine our Anticipated Power Points for this lesson:
· God’s Covenant Revealed. Genesis 12:1-3
· God’s Covenant Responded to. Genesis 12:4-6
· God’s Covenant Reaffirmed. Genesis 12:7-9
LESSON OUTLINE
God’s Covenant Commitment Commenced…
I. God’s Covenant Revealed. Genesis 12:1-3
God chose a man from the lineage of Shem the son of Noah, to leave his familiar surroundings and even his family heritage, to go to a place of God’s choosing and start all over again at God’s command. (Read Genesis 11:10-31). After the death of Terah Abram’s father, God spoke the words of our text for today.
A. Come out. vs. 1
Abram is told to leave from his father’s house and go to a far land of the descendants of Ham called Canaan, and God would deliver this land to him and his descendants forever.
B. Get ready. vs. 2
God promises him that he would become a great nation even though his wife is barren, aged and never had been pregnant. But God said… and thank God he would perform it! God promises fame to Abram’s name.
C. Be blessed and a blessing. vs. 3
The eternal seed of Abraham would be loved and hated by many. He would die on a cross, be resurrected and save as many as would call upon His precious name. (Read Psalm 72:17 and Galatians 3:8) History continues to shed light and truth of this verse as well as the future when Jesus Christ will return. (Read Philippians 2:10-11)
II. God’s Covenant Responded To. Genesis 12:4-6
Hearing is never enough when it comes to God’s Word. James 1:22 tells us, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” Abram heard the word of the Lord, departed on the journey which God declared he must take and influenced Lot his nephew (whom he undoubtedly had raised) to travel with him. (Verse 1 said for him to leave his kin folks, but God would help him settle this later. Read Genesis 13:1-13).
As Abram responded to God’s command, he traveled south into the land of Canaan, also known as Palestine. God was leading; Abram was following and seeing the sights and sounds. Beloved, when the Lord is leading and we are following, trust and obey for there is no other way! Hebrews 11:9-10, “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”
III. God’s Covenant Reaffirmed. Genesis 12:7-9
God always rewards faith and obedience, and so it was with Abram. As God led and reassured him, Abram built altars and worshipped the true God. In verse 7, the Lord appears to him, but in what form we do not know. Most believed that the appearance of the Lord was visible and audible, but whatever the case, God made everything clear without question. How do I know? Because of Abram’s response: he built altars and worshipped the true God!
God’s affirmation of His covenant with Abram caused him, at 75 years of age, to move wherever and whenever, at God’s command. He truly exercised faith and obedience even in the presence of his enemy!
CLOSING
We will study much more about Abraham’s faith in God, but where is your faith today? We should exercise faith in God’s Word, not just in hearing but in doing! Remember the words of Luke 6:46-49, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
Bibleway Missionary Baptist Church, New Orleans, LA & Little Bethel Baptist Church, Amite, LA
Mailing Address: Post Office Box 19768, New Orleans, LA 70179
Phone: (504) 486-7876 Email: Website: www.thestudyhour.com
TV Broadcasts: WHNO TV 20, Sunday, 6:30 a.m. – Channel 14 (Hammond-Amite area), 6:30 a.m.
Radio Broadcasts: WLNO AM 1060, Saturday 8:30 a.m.; Sunday 5:30 a.m.
AM 1570 (Hammond-Amite area) Saturday 1:00 p.m.
LOOKING AHEAD: December 11, 2011 Genesis 15:1-6, 12-18
NOTE: SEE AND HEAR PASTOR DAVIS TEACH THE LESSON WEEKLY AT www.thstudyhour.com. Click on Videos!
NOTICE: We solicit your sincere prayers as we are in a spiritual quandary concerning The Study Hour Television Ministry. We want to continue to bring you the weekly Sunday School lessons, and you can make it possible for the program to continue in 2012 with a financial gift to “The Study Hour.” Otherwise, this 17-year old program will be suspended or cancelled at the end of this year because of lack of funding. We appreciate you for all that you do, and we thank God for your support. Please call us at 504-486-7876.
“Yesterday’s victory is now a memory. Today’s will come as we presently perform, and tomorrow’s is based on our consistency from day to day!” Pastor Frank Davis, III