Connect
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What are you thankful for today?
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How have you seen God working in your life this past week?
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What difficulties are you experiencing in life? How may we help?
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How did you apply last session's discovery? What happened?
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With whom did you share last session's discovery? What was their response?
Instructions:
Please use the following steps to guide your discovery of God's truth in the passages below. Need to review the Group Guidelines?
Discover
Step 1- Participants take turns reading sections of the passage (clarify new words/terms)
Step 2- One person reads the entire passage out loud while the rest listen
Step 3- A participant retells the passage in his/her own words (others add their thoughts)
God's Plan Through One Family (Genesis 12:1-8; 15:1-6; 17:1-8)
Genesis 12:1-8
1The lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” 4So Abram departed as the lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, 6Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites. 7Then the lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the lord, who had appeared to him. 8After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the lord, and he worshiped the lord.
Genesis 15:1-6
1Some time later, the lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.” 2But Abram replied, “O Sovereign lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. 3You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.” 4Then the lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” 5Then the lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” 6And Abram believed the lord, and the lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.
Genesis 17:1-8
1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. 2I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.” 3At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, 4“This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! 5What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. 6I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them! 7“I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois, 60188. All rights reserved.
Ask/Answer:
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What do you see in this passage?
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What does it mean to you?
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What do you like/not like about this passage?
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How does this passage change the way you see God/People?
Respond: If this is true...
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How should it change the way you live?
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With whom will you share today's discovery?