Together for Good

Genesis 18:10-15; 21:1-7

Connecting Questions

What is something you had to wait a long time to receive?

What is something in the past week that made you laugh?

Prayer for Illumination

Let us pray, Loving God, we pause today grateful for this next breath. We are grateful for the chance to connect with others today for we all carry such hurts and hope. Open your Word to us. Open our hearts to let your word speak to us and change our lives. We pray in the name of the Jesus, Amen.

Context

Welcome to September; God is good! Our fall is a season of gathering and regathering after the summer heat, travel and different rhythm. Come explore the many opportunities to grow in faith and carry on the work of Jesus Christ at Easter. So glad you are here!

Sermons from last Sunday can be found at Easter.org/worship.

From Pastor Terry Fretheim at EntertheBible.org:

Sarah and Abraham left their home in Haran to travel in Canaan, because God promised to give them a land. For a time she and Abraham were in Egypt and they pretended to be brother and sister out of fear that Sarah’s beauty would incite the Egyptians to kill her husband. Sarah lived ninety years of her life without bearing children and asked Abraham to father a son (Ishmael) through her servant Hagar. God promised that Sarah too would bear a son and she laughed at the idea. Later she laughed for joy when her baby was born, and she named the child Isaac which means “he laughed.”

Look at the Book

Open Genesis 18 and read from verse 1 through. What is happening in the story of Abraham and Sarah?
How many visitors were there?
This scene is like the Annunciation story of Mary. Keep that in mind as you read this! But what is the difference between Mary and Sarah?
What was a time you eavesdropped on something surprising?
Age matters in this story. Underline the repetition. Why?
What is one thing that has been positive and powerful about aging?
Why the detail about Sarah’s menopause journey?
Sarah’s response to the spoken promise of the visitor is to laugh. Why? How do you understand her laughter?
Abraham laughed, too, in Genesis 17:17. Why?
God calls Sarah on the carpet for laughing; notice, what detail does God leave out of what Sarah was thinking when telling Abraham? What is the promise at the heart of this passage?
Do you have a story where you laughed at God only to see good news happen eventually?
Count the number of times “laugh” appears in this passage. This is how they name Isaac: “he who laughs.”
Chapter 21 is 25 years later. What must that have been like for Sarah? Yet, what does God do?
Isaac is born. Verse 6 is tough to read. Is Sarah saying people will laugh with me? Or, at me? Why might both work?
All of God’s work is because God kept a promise, made a covenant. Why is this Good news?
How does Jesus show us that God keeps promises?
What do you want to talk about that has not been brought up yet?

Taking it Home

Who needs a word of encouragement in your life right now?

What can you do to encourage an elder in your life, who may feel like Sarah...before and after Isaac?

Grow Guide | September 17, 2023