Mountain Life Church LIFE PACKMountain Life Church LIFE PACK

Message #3 in “The Friend of God” series.Message #3 in “The Friend of God” series.

May 15, 2011May 15, 2011

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The CovenantThe Covenant Sermon Notes Sermon Notes –– Genesis 15Genesis 15

I. The Impossible Promise, and the Righteous Response. A. God promises Abram he will have an heir from

his own body. 1. God promises Abram a great blessing. 2. Abram struggles believing how God will provide

him an heir. 3. God shows Abram the stars, and guarantees him

that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars.

4. God’s intention to reach the earth with Abram’s blessed offspring.

B. Abram believes God, and God sees it as righteousness. 1. Righteousness has always been through faith. 2. The law causes us to think righteousness is earned.

II. The Covenant A. Abram needs clarity, God gives it in full color.

1. Abram kindly and meekly asks for confirmation. 2. God sends him to get some animals for sacrifice.

(Hebrews 9: 16).

B. God makes the covenant 1. Abram splits the animals in half. 2. God puts Abram to sleep. 3. God walks through the animals, a sign of one mak-

ing a covenant. 4. God speaks the terms of the Covenant.

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C. The Terms of the Covenant.

1. God will provide an heir for Abram. 2. His descendants will be enslaved for 400 years. 3. God will rescue them and judge the Egyptians. 4. God will bring the people back to the promised

land.

III. Covenants A. Covenants were usually made between heads of

tribes or heads of household. 1. Based on mutual trust, not mutual distrust. 2. Today’s contracts are based on mutual distrust.

B. Covenants always involved shedding of animal blood, and “cutting” of skin. 1. Shows the seriousness of the promises. 2. Makes us “blood brothers.”

C. The Covenant makers would walk a figure 8 through the dead animals. 1. They would say what they were promising as they

walked through the dead animals. 2. They were strongly saying, “I will be like one of

these animals if I break this covenant!”

D. Exchange of Cloaks 1. All that is mine is yours. 2. All that is yours is mine. 3. Marriage rings do the same thing in today’s mar-

riage covenant.

E. Changing of names 1. I will add your name into mine. 2. You will add my name into yours.

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Life Group Questions for May 15 -

“The Friend of God” Series - Message = The Covenant

Ice Breaker: Tell the group about an outlandish or huge Christmas gift you received or gave. Read Genesis 15 1. What do you observe about this passage? 2. What specifically speaks to you about this chapter? 3. What is difficult for you to understand about this chapter? 4. Has God ever spoken to you in a very significant and clear way,

the way He did to Abram in this chapter? Please tell the story. 5. Why do you think it was so important that God give Abram that

land, and for God to give Abram an heir? 6. Have two people tell their story of how they came to become a

follower of Jesus. (10 minutes each) 8. Pray for each other.

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Personal Devotion Pages The following pages are designed to help you to enjoy a regular time alone with God. We have divided up the curriculum to help us grow wherever we are at in our relation-ship with God and in our knowledge of His Kingdom. LEVELS: Since we are a Colorado church, we use skiing imagery to communicate the different levels of intensity and time involved in relating to God. BEGINNER: If you are new in your relationship with God, we encourage you to try the exercises under this symbol: INTERMEDIATE: If you have walked with God for some time and would like a little more challenge and more time involvement, try the exercises under this symbol: ADVANCED: These exercises are for people who have walked with God for some time and display maturity in their walk with God. These exercises provide a practical way to encounter God and His truth on a daily basis. There are no rules here. Please don’t hurry through the process. Slow meditation and memorization seems to soak in bet-ter than cramming. Enjoy!

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1. Take some time to quiet yourself before God, and then to praise Him and thank Him for whatever comes to your mind.

2. In order to help you worship the Lord, read Psalm 41.

3. Psalm 41:11 says this, “By this I know that You are pleased

with me, Because my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.” As you meditate on this verse, ask the Lord where the enemy shouts in triumph over you. Take time to thank the Lord that He will give you the strength today to over-come.

4. The first few verses of Psalm 41 speak of the blessings of helping

the helpless. Ask the Lord to give you an awareness of those in need today, and be willing to help them in any way the Lord di-rects.

Meditate on and memorize Psalm 41: 1 this week

Meditate on and memorize Psalm 41: 1-3 this week.

Meditate on and memorize Psalm 41: 1-3 and verses 11

-12 this week.

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Then the LORD said to him, "No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own to inherit everything I am giving you." Then the LORD brought Abram outside beneath the night sky and told him, "Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that--too many to count!" ~Genesis 15: 4-5

I’m trying to imagine being a 75 year old childless man hearing that message. “I am going to have a son, and someday, my descendants will be as numerous as the stars? And my new God whom I worship will make all this possible?”

It must have felt like Christmas or probably more like winning the lottery to Abram! The scripture implies that having a son was a deep desire of Abram’s. Could something he gave up hope for years ago now be provided through this new God? What are the deepest desires of your heart? I mean, the very deep-est desires. Not the self centered desires, nor the desires that elevate you above others, but the real selfless desires that come from within your heart.

I remember one of my most vivid dreams. I was in the parking lot of a huge basketball arena. I saw people driving like lunatics, parking their cars and running into the arena. They didn’t seem to have enough time to even close their car doors. Inside the arena, I joined a throng of people waiting with tense anticipation for the star attrac-tion. It was Jesus of Nazareth, and as he came out with no special lighting or music, the crowd went nuclear. Worship and adoration came out of them with selfless abandonment.

This dream defines the deepest desire of my heart. It shapes my prayers, my hopes, and my daily requests. Someday, I’ll see it happen.

What is the deepest desire of your heart today? Share it with God, and allow Him to bring it to pass.

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1. Take some time to quiet yourself before God, and then to praise Him and thank Him for whatever comes to your mind.

2. Genesis 15. Write down anything that stands out to you here. 3. Think about how God has spoken to you in special ways lately,

and thank Him for loving you and speaking to you.

4. Ask God these things based on your ability: Ask God to show you how to hear His voice today. Ask God to speak to you today, and then to confirm that it is Him through the Scripture.

Ask God what He is doing around you today, and ask Him to show you how you can get in on what He is doing.

5. Read Hebrews 8: 8-13. See if you can see the difference be-

tween the New and Old Covenants. The Old Covenant is started in Genesis 15, and the New Covenant was brought about through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Continue memorizing the verses for the week.

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And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD de-clared him righteous because of his faith. ~Genesis 15: 6

God saw Abram’s faith, and declared him righteous. This state-ment can rush past us so fast that we miss the gravity of it. Having right standing with God is the cry of every human heart.

Right standing is something every son craves to have with his par-ents. Every man woos a woman in order to have right standing with her. A woman blooms like a flower when she has right stand-ing with the man she loves.

Righteousness means there are no secrets between us. It means I approach you with total acceptance and welcome, no matter what I’ve done - or what you’ve done in the past. Our relationship has no complexities, no fear of rejection, no inferiority. Neither one of us secretly gossips about the other while away from them. There are virtually no hard feelings, no critical judgments, and no ques-tion of “where do I stand with you?”

I learned righteousness from my daughter, Hannah. Hannah liter-ally means, “grace” or “favored” in the Hebrew language, and my baby girl personifies those words.

As a little girl, she knew she was righteous with me. Each morning, I would awaken to enjoy a delicious bagel in my favorite easy chair. The bagel’s fragrance would waft into Hannah’s room, and carry her floating on the aroma to where I sat. With hair com-pletely disheveled, and sleep in her eyes, she would boldly climb into my lap, knowing I was putty in her hands. She would say one thing. “Da–a-a-a-a-dy.” This was all that was required to melt me. She would then take the bagel from my hand, and eat it herself.

Come right in to the presence of God. He has declared you righteous! Enjoy Him today!

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1. Take some time to quiet yourself before God, and then to praise Him and thank Him for whatever comes to your mind.

2. Re-read Genesis 15 today, and ask God to show you any new

insights today. Write them down here. 3. In Genesis 15, God promises Abram that he will have an heir

from his own 75 year old body. As Abram contemplated that he was 75, and Sarai was 66, this must have seemed impossible. Yet God knew that in order for Abram to believe him, God had to continually confirm His faithfulness. How has God confirmed His faithfulness to you in recent times?

4. Continue memorizing the verses for this week.

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And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD declared him righteous because of his faith. ~Genesis 15: 6

After Abram, the Bible goes on to talk about other great Biblical characters until we come upon Moses. Moses brought the Law of God, and this is where we got hung up when it comes to righteous-ness.

After Moses, everyone thought they had to earn their righteousness with God. If you kept the law just right, and held your mouth just so, you might be able to pray a prayer that just might get answered. If it didn’t get answered, you lived in constant fear that you disobeyed God somehow, and He was angry. And no one thought they could actually approach God and speak to him like a friend! That place was reserved for superstar saints like Moses or David.

Then, the New Covenant was enacted through Jesus’ death and res-urrection. Paul defines our new relationship with God like this. “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” (II Corinthians 5: 21). Basically, what happened at the cross was Jesus took my sin-ful horrible past upon Himself, and gave me His right standing with the Father. I am now as righteous as Jesus. ( I didn’t say it, II Corin-thians 5:21 says it!).

This righteousness is not earned or inherited because of some great good-ness in me. It’s certainly not because I’m the best looking. It is given to all who trust God through faith - the same way Abram got it.

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. ~Hebrews 4: 16

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1. Take some time to quiet yourself before God, and then to praise Him and thank Him for whatever comes to your mind.

2. Read Genesis 15: 6. God told Abram his descendents would

outnumber the stars. Abram believed God, and God was pleased! Simply believing God gave Abram right standing with God to be able to approach Him without fear. Is there anything God is telling you that is in another context possibly crazy? Ask Him to confirm His word to you to help you know that He is leading you in this way.

3. The human heart hungers for right standing. We tend to think it

comes from earning our way to a blameless relationship with God, but it is a gift from Him. Boldly come before God and ask Him for what is in your heart today. He longs to hear your prayer.

4. If you are married, take time to pray for your spouse. Ask God: • How can I honor my spouse today? • How can I serve my spouse today? • What has my spouse been saying to me that I’m not listening

to? • Show me how to unconditionally accept and love my spouse

today. If you are single: pray for a coworker: • How can I honor my co-worker today? • How can I serve them in kindness? • Lord, show me how to share my relationship with You with

my coworker today.

5. Continue memorizing the verses for this week.

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As the sun went down and it became dark, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. ~Genesis 15: 17

Most of us Americans see this passage as strange, macabre, and ba-sically weird. Yet, the practice of “cutting covenant” was common in Abram’s day clear up to the 19th century. Some tribal communi-ties still practice this powerful promise between themselves.

God had just made an outlandish promise to Abram, and He chose to show how serious He was about making it happen by making a covenant with Abram. This was God’s culturally relevant way of showing his sterling and beautiful character to Abram, and to you and me.

Covenant differs from our modern contracts in significant ways. Covenant was based on mutual trust. Contracts are based on mu-tual distrust. In tribal cultures, no one would ever make a covenant with someone they did not trust.

The ancient Hebrew word for “covenant” literally means, “to cut.” Covenant never happened without the shedding of blood. The shed blood showed the seriousness of breaking the promises made, (“If I break this promise, I will die!) as well as the seriousness of the new relationship it created (“We are now blood brothers!”).

As Jesus died upon Calvary’s cross, He forged a new and better covenant between God and man. It was deadly serious. God prom-ised to completely wipe out my sin and my past, and to give me an amazing righteous relationship with Him! But to fail to accept this covenant and this righteousness by faith means destruction. It is deadly serious, and conversely unbelievably glorious!

And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. ~ Jesus in Luke 22:20

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1. Take some time to quiet yourself before God, and then to praise Him and thank Him for whatever comes to your mind.

2. In Genesis 15: 6, God saw Abram’s faith, and rewarded him with

a right relationship with God. He was not looking for a perfect man with great faith. He was looking for someone simply to take Him at His word. Read Philippians 3 and see if you can identify the two kinds of righteousness listed there.

3. After reading Philippians 3, ask God to show you if you ever try to

“earn” your right standing with Him by doing good things, or by being perfect. God GIVES us right standing with Him when we believe Him! Take some time to thank Him that His word is de-pendable, and that He receives us through simple faith.

4. Finish memorizing your verses today. See if you can quote your

memory verses or passage to a friend or spouse.

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As God made the covenant with Abram in Genesis 15, He spoke in very clear words that the fullness of His promises would not occur for another 600 years.

600 years???

God would you provide for my family? “Sure, give me a few decades.”

God, would you bring revival to America? “Sure, just wait until your great, great, great grandchildren see what I will do!”

God seems very intent to answer my prayers. Yet, He is also incredi-bly free from my American “fast food” mentality that demands for it to happen now! He works through eons. His answers come, but not just when I think they ought to in order to make me comfortable and happy.

Jesus taught us to pray with diligence; to keep praying even when it seems our prayers are bouncing off the ceiling. The Son of God seemed to know that the Father doesn’t answer on my time table, but that I’m to keep asking, even bugging Him for an answer.

Something grand happens in the meantime. As I keep seeking Him for answers, He reveals bigger and more awesome things about His nature to me. He may even bring about a realization that what I prayed for in the beginning is no longer important.

Prayer is more about the process, more about the relationship than it is about me getting what I want - or even what I need!

The God who works His will quietly in the midst of history is at work. My greatest calling is to know Him, and to get in on what He is doing on this earth.

Your kingdom come… Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!

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This section of our curriculum is aimed at helping parents disciple their own children. We hope you will take a few evenings a week to open the scriptures and talk to your kids about kingdom things.

You can mix and match these ideas to meet the needs of your family’s children.

Babies through preschool: Read Genesis 15 from a children’s bible or tell your children the story of God’s promise to Abraham.

Discuss that Abram wanted a family and God promised that Abram would have a family. Talk about God’s other promises such as salvation through Christ.

Bible Verse: Genesis 15:5 “Then he brought him outside and said ‘Look now toward heaven and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendents be.”

Prayer: Hold my family in your hands, As we follow your commands. And I will keep you close in sight. Amen.

Activity: Go outside with your children on a clear evening and look at the stars together. Ask them to try and count the stars. Talk about God’s promise to Abram and God’s promise to us with your children.

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Elementary: Meal One: Read Genesis chapter 15. Talk about how hard it must have been for Abram to believe in God’s promise. Think of a time when it was hard for you to trust in God. On a piece of paper write how you felt. Meal Two: As a family research the meaning of the word covenant. Use the internet or look it up in the dictionary. Talk about what a covenant looked like in Bible times and what it looks like today. Come up with examples of covenants from to-day. Meal Three: In the story of Abram God shows his amazing power, he took an old man and a woman that couldn’t have chil-dren and created a nation out of their descendants. Look at your own life and as a family talk about the powerful, wonder-ful things that God has done for you.

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Teens Meal One: As a family read Genesis 15, then ask these questions

In Genesis 15:6 when God made a promise, Abram believed in the Lord. When God commanded Abram, he obeyed.

Describe what you have done recently to show that you obey God.

Meal Two: The word “believe” is one of the most important decisions in all of the Bible, because a person must believe God in order to be saved from sin.

Let your family know if you have made this important de-cision to “believe in the Lord”. If you have, are you willing to make a commitment to do what God wants in obedi-ence?

Meal Three: In Genesis 15:1 the Lord said to Abram, “I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

What does “your exceedingly great reward” mean in your own words?

Note: “Your exceedingly great reward” means the greatest thing in all of life is a relationship with God. Take time this week to celebrate your decision to have a relationship with God and share with others your decision.

Memory Verse: Yet to all who receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. ~John 1:12

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Write any notes from the week here

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