Sermon Questions
ENGAGE
- What are some of the pressures culture puts on families that didn’t exist 100 years ago?
READ
- Read or summarize Genesis 16.
Share any observations or questions from the passage or the sermon.
REFLECT
- Compare the exchange between Abram and Sarai in Genesis 16 with the exchange between Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. What similarities do you recognize? Consider the parallels.
Adam ________________ (Gen.3:17)
Abram________________ (Gen. 16:2)
Eve “took” ____________ (Gen. 3:6)
Sarah “took” __________ (Gen. 16:3)
Eve “gave” ____________ (Gen. 3:6)
Sarah “gave” __________ (Gen. 16:3)
- Does this pattern appear anywhere else in scripture? Today?
- Discuss the interactions between Abram & Sarai, Sarai & Hagar, and God & Hagar. What do these interactions teach us about man? About God?
RESPOND
- Has there ever been a time you were trying to force God's timing or plan? The story of Abram, Sarai, and Hagar demonstrates how getting ahead of God can cause strife. How have you seen this play out in your own life or in the lives of others? How can we balance actively pursuing God's mission while also waiting on His timing and direction?
- “El Roi” - the God Who sees; “Ishmael” - the God Who hears. How can these two truths be both frightening and comforting?
- Discuss the following passages in light of the truths in the previous question: Proverbs 16:2; Mark 6:34; Hebrews 4:14-16; Psalm 139
PRAY
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication
