Genesis 12:1-8, Philemon 1, 10-21, and Luke 14:25-33

Discussion guide

Getting talking 

  1. Share a high and low from your week.  

  1. How do you feel about moving? Which place have you lived in that you liked the most?  

 

Into Genesis 12:1-8 

  1. How many times did God call Abram?  

    1. Acts 7:2 

    2. Genesis 12:1 

  2. In 12:1 God told Abram to leave his country, his people, and his father’s household. Describe what God is making Abram leave behind. 

  3. “By leaving Ur and Haran, where moon worship was the dominant cult (the name Terah is related to the Hebrew for ‘moon’, Abram would be set free from the drag of the familial culture… and the ancestral tradition as far as these were idolatrous…” (Joyce Baldwin, Genesis 12-50, p. 29)  

  4. The blessing of verses 2-3 is one of the most wonderful in the Bible. Explain some part of it. What’s your favorite line?  

  5. What is something that God might be calling you to through his Word and his people? What will you have to leave behind to do it? What might you discover if you do it?  

     

  6. How much risk or fear do you feel in following Jesus?  

  7. According to verse 7, what does Abram do when he gets to the new land? What brings you the joy of worship?  

Prayer 

Dear Lord, we all must build some of our identity on the things around us: our family, our county, our nation, and our work. That easily leads us to confusion about what is truly good and God pleasing about us and what is false and of the devil. Thank you for calling us to leave behind everything that misleads us and giving us a new person set up by your promises and blessing. Give us this new identity in Jesus’ name, Amen.  

 

Wrap up 

  1. How did you see God at work in your life this week?  

  2. What has God been teaching you in his Word?  

  3. What’s something that you would like someone else to check in with you about this week?  

  4. What kind of conversations are you having with non-Christians? 

  5. Pray for one another.