SSMCSUNGAI WAY-SUBANGMETHODISTC H U R C H

Sunday25 Jan 2015

LET’S PREPARE OUR HEARTS TO GAZE UPON

THE BEAUTY AND MAJESTY OF JESUS!

Celebration Service

By Robin Liew

SSMCSUNGAI WAY-SUBANGMETHODISTC H U R C H

2015 YEAR OF BREAKTHROUGH

Theme :WHOLESOME LIVING

“Abrahamic Covenant of

Promise and Faith”

THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT OF

PROMISE AND FAITH Gen 12: 1-8; Gen 15;

Gen 17; Gen 22:15-18

PERSON

FAMILY

CHURCH

PERSON

FAMILY

CHURCH

LIVING WORTHILY AS A DISCIPLE LIVING FRUITFULLY AS A FAMILY

LIVING POWERFULLY AS A CHURCH

REFERENCE POINT

THEO-CENTRIC

ANTHROPO-CENTRIC

ABRAHAMIC COVENANTGOD INITIATES – THE CALL OF ABRAM

(Gen 12:1-3)

v.1 Leave your country, your people and father’s household and go to the land I will show you.

v.2-3 I will make you a great nation and I willbless you, I will make your name great andyou will be a blessing. I will bless those whobless you, and whoever curses you I willcurse and all the peoples on earth will bebless through you .

GOD ESTABLISHES HIS COVENANT UNILATERALLY (One Sided) Gen 15

1 Do not be afraid Abram, I am your shield and great reward.

4-5 but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." "Look up at the heavens and count the stars — if indeed you can count them." "So shall your offspring be."

7 "give you this land to take possession of it."

8 But Abram said, "O Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?"

9 So the Lord said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."

ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

• In OT, covenant in Hebrew “ber-eeth” means “to cut”

10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half.

12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.

17-18 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.

• On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land.”

GOD AFFIRMS AND FULFILLS HIS COVENANT Gen 17:1-8

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared tohim and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and beblameless.

2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and willgreatly increase your numbers."

5 No longer your name will be Abraham, for I have made you afather of many nations.

7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenantbetween me and you and your descendants after you for thegenerations to come, to be your God and the God of yourdescendants after you.

8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I willgive as an everlasting possession to you and your descendantsafter you; and I will be their God."

ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

GOD INVITES US INTO HIS COVENANT

17: 8 I will be their God

17 :9 keep my covenant

(Circumcision v.9-14)

ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

ABRAHAMIC COVENANT• RELATIONSHIP Between GOD and MAN

COVENANT OF PROMISE :

GOD IS REVEALED AS

A GOD OF RELATIONSHIP

A GOD OF PROMISE

A GOD OF COVENANT - He made a vow to honour

A GOD WHO BLESSES - with future and hope

COVENANT OF FAITH :

HOW MAN SHOULD RESPOND

Gen 12:4 So Abram left, as the LORD told him

Gen 12: 7, 8 He built altars to the LORD

Gen 15: 6 Abram believed the LORD and he

credited it to him as righteousness

Gen 17: 23 On the very day Abraham …..

circumcised all , as God told him.

FAITH = Believe, Trust, Allegiance, Obedience

ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

APPLICATION • CORRECT REFERENCE -

– Anthropo-centric vs Theo-centric

Question : Which position are you starting from ?

• CORRECT RELATIONSHIP IS THE KEY ,NOT THE DOING

Question : What are the indicators of aliving relationship with God ?How do you rate yours ?

APPLICATION

• CORRECT RESPONSE - LIVING FAITH

Question : Abraham shows us the example of Living FAITH (Believe, Trust , Allegiance and Obedience).

How does our “ Faith” compares ?

Num 23:19 God is not aman, that he should lie, nora son of man, that he shouldchange his mind. Does hespeak and then not act?Does he promise and notfulfill?

GOD HAS PROMISED

2 Peter 1:3-4

His divine power has given us everything

we need for life and godliness through ourknowledge of him who called us by his ownglory and goodness. 4 Through these he hasgiven us his very great and preciouspromises, so that through them you mayparticipate in the divine nature and escapethe corruption in the world caused by evildesires.

GOD HAS PROVIDED

• Eph 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably

more than all we ask or imagine,

according to his power that is at work within us,

GOD OF “HOW MUCH MORE”