Abraham's Journey into God's Goodness

The call of Abram. We're reading from Genesis 12 verses 1 to 9.

The Lord had said to Abram, Go from your country, your people, and your father's household to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you.

I will make your great name and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you, I will curse and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

So Abram went as the Lord had told him and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai and nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran. And they set out for the land of Canaan and they arrived there.

Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moray at Shechem. At that time, the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said to your offspring, I will give this land. So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.

From there, he went on towards the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent. With Bethel on the west and Ai on the east, there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. Then Abram set out and continued towards Negev.

Hear the word of the Lord.

Family Talk: Packing for the Journey

All right. Well, I think I've got everything I need. Any other type sixes in the room, any agram type six? We like to be prepared for everything. So I love going away on trips. And lots of us will be enjoying some special holidays at the moment. And when I go away, I like to be prepared.

So I look up where I'm going to stay. I read all the reviews just to make sure that the photos actually match reality. Right. I'll look up what the weather will be like. I'll organize some different activities to do. And I think carefully about what I pack. Right. Packing the right things helps us to have a good time. Right. No one likes being freezing cold for a week. Right. You need to pack the right clothes.

So I was wondering if there are some people here who might be able to help me work out. You see, I've packed my suitcase, but I forgot where I'm going. But I forgot where I'm going. And I was wondering if there's some people who might be able to help me work out where I'm going based on what's in my suitcase. So let's see what's in here.

• So first up, we have a beanie.
• Then, oh, yep, a scarf and some gloves. That might be handy.
• What else do I have in here? Oh, good old puffer jacket. Couldn't be in Melbourne without a puffer jacket. Hmm.
• Oh, some hiking shoes.
• A torch. That needs new batteries.
• A sleeping bag.

Hmm. I wonder where I could be going. Does anyone have any ideas? Yeah. Where do you think I might be going? Yeah, I reckon I was going camping. That's what I need to go camping. If you've got a sleeping bag and a kettle and some warm clothes, some good shoes and a torch, maybe you could go camping.

But I've got another suitcase here. I wonder what's in here. Let's have a little look. Hmm. Yep. I've got a hat. Nice, big, wide brim and some sunscreen. Hmm. What else might I have? Oh. Where could I be going? Who thinks they've worked it out? Yeah, Naomi, where do you think I might be going? To the beach. That's right. So if I was going to the beach, I'd need some bathers and a towel and a hat and sunscreen. Nice work.

What Abraham Needed to Pack

So today we're starting a new series called Walking with God. And in our Bible reading, we heard about the call of Abram. Abram was called to go on a trip, but he didn't actually know where he was going at first. He didn't know where he was going. And so God told him to leave his home and go to the land that God would show him. At first, he didn't know where he was going, but he did know that God had said, I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you and I will make your name great and you will be a blessing.

So I wonder, knowing that about Abram's trip, if we could have a think about what Abram might need to pack for this trip. So I'm going to need some help. There are 12 things that Abram needs to pack for his trip, and they are hidden around the auditorium. You may need to check underneath your seat. Kids, there are some that are not underneath seats. And so you might need to jump up and find some other things that Abram might need to pack for his trip.

So jump on up, see if you can find some different things that Abram might need for his trip. What might he need? I can see one from where I'm standing that I don't think anyone else can see from where they are. That's a little clue for you. If you've found one, can you bring it up for me?

• He might need some bowls. I don't know if they're going to fit in his bag, but we can try.
• Oh, Abram might need some wisdom.
• Oh, what else do we have? Obedience, faith, belief.
• Abram needs courage.
• Oh, he needs some perseverance.
• Oh, I found another one of these when I was hiding them. This is from when we did the Psalm series, which was like at least two years ago. And no one's found it since. A worshipful heart. Oh, amazing. Thank you.
• Trust.
• More Psalms. I thought I grabbed them. God's guidance.
• There's still one that I can see that no one else can. Abram definitely needs an across the creek so he knows what's going on at our church.
• Oh, yes, legend. God's blessing.

So here are some things that Abram might have needed for his trip. And we're going to put them in his bag. We've got God's blessing. Let's put that in. He needed God's guidance. Let's put that one in. I think he probably needed some trust, right, to trust God's plan. He needed a worshipful heart, a heart that was ready to worship God. He needed... Walking with God, Abraham's journey of faith and ours, scripture reading booklet. So good. Let's put that in. He needed some wisdom. He needed to learn to obey God. This bag's getting pretty full. What else is in here? He needed faith. Let's put that in. He needed belief. Perseverance because things were going to get tough and he needed some courage. He needed to be brave to say yes to God.

So these are some of the things that Abraham, who at this stage was called Abram, needed to take with him on his trip. So I wonder, you might like to have a bit of a think about, for all of us, what we might need to take with us as we journey with God, on our trip with God, what things might we need to take with us. And Pedram's going to come and help us think a bit more about that now.

Introduction to the Series: Walking with God

Thanks, Rachel. And good morning, everyone. Let me add another welcome to Rachel as you're visiting us for the first time or welcome back to some of you. As we have mentioned and Rachel mentioned just now, we are going through this new series in this new year's series following Abraham's call and the journey that he's going to have. We're going to be on a trip with Abraham to see that what God is going to teach us through this new series. So are you ready for that? I don't look like that much ready, but yeah. Are you ready? Yes, I'm in.

So it's a time of holiday and Christmas and most of families are around the world traveling and enjoying the time with their families. And what people love traveling around the world. People love like going to visit new places. But what they don't like is that they don't like to go somewhere that they don't know without any clarity or anything that is going on in there. So traveling is a little bit scary in that area then without any certainty. Right? We want to know where we are going, what to pack before go, what time we are going to get there. And we check the Google map thousand times before getting there. The easiest way to get there, the cheapest way to get there. We want reassurance before we hit the road. We want to know what the new place that we are going to visit, what it looks like.

Today is our last Sunday in 2025. We want to know what the coming year holds for us in 2026, right? We are introduced to this new character Abram or Abraham in the book of Genesis. He is a man through whom God would reveal his grace. He is a man that through whom God would bless the world and the nations.

Genesis 12 is a message to those of us who experience difficulties in life. It's a message to those of us who feel like that life can be often a series of unfortunate events. So what we see in this passage is an answer to the question. How should I respond in these moments? How should I walk faithfully with God now and next year in 2026?

Who Was Abraham?

Apart from Moses, no one from the Old Testament is mentioned more in the New Testament than Abram. So James says that he calls Abram as a friend of God. No one else in the Bible has this title. First we meet Abram in Genesis chapter 11 verse 26. And then in chapter 12 we see he's already 75 years old. Then we walk with him until chapter 25 verse 8 when he breathed his last and died at a good old age. It's quite a big chunk of chapters in the book of Genesis. And the book of Genesis is divided into two different sections. Chapter 1 to 12 and then 12 to 50. And this is chapter 12 that we are going to read together and see what God is telling us through this.

There is no story of his childhood, no record of spiritual training. The name Abram means exalted father. And then in Genesis chapter 17 we see that God gives him another name and changes to Abraham. He appears as an ordinary man living an ordinary life. He comes from Ur, a wealthy and busy city shaped by trade and worship of many gods. Later his family settles in Haran, which is another place of comfort and security and familiar routine of life. And this was Abram's world. Family matters, relationship matters. Staying close to other parts of the family and friends matter.

The God of "I AM"

So then Genesis 12 begins and God speaks. So let's look at verses 1, 2, 3 because they provide us with important and fundamental things that we need to see. And it shapes what comes next. I think the first important thing to notice is the name of God that is used here in chapter 12. And throughout the rest of the chapters in the book of Genesis.

So what we see in our old, in our English version is the word the Lord in all caps. He is not in all caps but it is all in caps in most of the translation. And when the name of God is used in that way means the Hebrew word that is translated to English from the word Yahweh. Yahweh. And Yahweh is God's name. And it's the name of God that is most commonly used throughout the Old Testament.

You might be familiar with Exodus chapter 3, the burning bush and God's coming to Moses. And he says that I am is the meaning of Yahweh. I am is really what this Yahweh means. It's a name that describes who God is. He is the self existence, eternally existence one. So rather than the Lord which is all in caps in our Bibles and most of the Bibles. We could just change this word here to say now I am had said to Abraham. I am said to Abraham.

So just as it was intended to comfort Moses and the Israelites as they sought freedom from Egypt. It was also comfort to Abraham as he called him to something radical here. And for this same reason this name of God I am should be a comfort to us as well today.

The Call to Go

Now I want you to notice what does I am say to Abraham. Go from your country, from your people and from your father's household to the land that I will show you. And I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great.

God doesn't give him a map. He doesn't give him a timeline. He doesn't even give him a destination that he can name. He simply says go. Leave your land. Leave your people. Leave whatever you have and what you know. Go to the land that I will show you. God doesn't say I have shown you. Not even I will explain later. But I will show you. Just go. And what he says to Abraham is just leave everything that I tell you to leave. Trust me and follow me.

And that's not an uncommon thing for God to say, right? When God shows up in the person of Jesus Christ what do we hear him say to fishermen and tax collectors? Leave everything and come and follow me. What's his message to us today? Leave everything and come and follow me. Leave behind whatever I call you to leave behind and come and follow me. Come and become my disciple.

That's exactly what he calls Abraham to do in this passage. He says first go. So that's a command that he gives him. Trust in me for your security. I'm going to make you more secure. You're worried about leaving people behind? Trust in the people that I will bring. The people that I will provide. I will make it better.

Abraham's Response: Obedience and Worship

Now we get into verses 4 through 6 and look at Abraham's response. So the first thing we see in this verses 4 to 6 is that Abraham obeyed. He didn't argue. He did not delay. Verse 4 simply says Abraham went as the Lord had told him. Hebrews 11 verse 8 tells us that he went without knowing where he was going.

What would it take for you to do that today? To step away from what feels safe. To trust God without seeing the whole picture. What does it mean to walk faithfully with God? So Abraham went as the Lord had told him. So he was already 75 years old. He was an established man. He had been working. He had been saving. He had been investing in relationships for 75 years of his life. And now all of a sudden he has to let it go.

So Abraham uprooted his whole household and he headed west. And they came to the land of Canaan. Specifically we are told here that a place called Shechem. So God hadn't told them where they would end up yet. So there were uncertainties. There were unknowns. There were also impossibilities in what God had said to Abraham. And Abraham didn't understand it. But he just needed to trust God. I'm 75 years old. My wife is barren and has never been able to have any kids. And yet you say you're going to make a great nation of me? That's impossible. But Abraham needed to trust. And his action of upcoming and moving and obeying was an expression of his trust to the Lord.

So Haran or in Farsi Haran. Where they are when they got speak to him and tells him to go. Is actually about 650 kilometers away from where they end up in Shechem. And that's a big task. That's a big task. It's a long journey. And it would have taken a long time, a lot of effort to do. But Abraham obeyed.

Now look at verses 7 to 9. And we see Abraham's another response here. God had said in verse 1 that he would show Abraham the land that he would give to his descendants. And in verse 7 he does just that. God says this one is the land. This is the one I was telling you about. You've arrived. This is the land that I'm going to give to your descendants. And God confirms that this is the place. He confirms there will be a descendant who will inherit this land.

And what is Abraham's response? And Abraham's response is he builds an altar. He worships God. And then we see again he moves on and he builds another altar and he worships God again. So this act of building altar and calling upon the name of Jehovah, the name of I Am, were acts of worship by Abraham. It was an act of worship which involved him proclaiming the name of the Lord. Declaring the greatness and faithfulness of God. It also expressed his dependence upon the Lord. Having met with God, the true God. Having heard from Him, having realized his own inabilities and his own weaknesses. And I Am had changed his life. So Abraham responds here with worship. He had a real encounter with the true and living God, I Am. God had opened his eyes to the truth and he now sees life through a different lens. And the only response was, I have to worship God. I have to worship Him.

Walking Faithfully into the New Year

And that changes how we read this text. Especially today in the last Sunday of 2025. As this year closes, some of us are standing without a map for next year. Some plans have failed. Some still going. Some prayers remain unanswered. Some futures feel undefined. It's not clear. We are waiting for something in 2026. And we don't know when and how. And into that space is where I Am speaks and offers us a call.

It is God who chooses. It is God who promises. It is God who gives. And it is God who works salvation through His Son. So we can depend upon Him to walk faithfully with Him in 2026 and years beyond. So our working with God response should be motivated by our understanding of who He is. Not by the circumstances around our life. Our lives don't go the way we want necessarily. Or let's say most of the time. We suffer the effects of sin. Our own sin. And just sin in general in this broken world. During this Christmas we all face this tragedy of Bondi Beach. Which is a reflection of this broken world and sinful humanity.

When we say that God is faithful. We mean that He is trustworthy. Everything He says and everything He does can be trusted. He doesn't change. He is the same God as yesterday, today and forever. The same I Am who spoke to Abram still speaks to us today and in all the years ahead of us and beyond. And because of this it is important to us. It is very important to understand what it means to walk faithfully with God.

Distractions to Faithfulness

But first of all it is important to recognize the things that can draw us away from walking with Him.

• Wealth: The one thing, the first thing, one of the things that draws away is wealth. When people have everything they need. When life feels comfortable and secure. It is easy for faith to slowly fade. We sometimes often see in wealthy societies that even Christians can drift away from God and from a faithful walk with Him.
• People and Influence: The second thing that is not a factor is people around us. Our friends, our relationship and their influence in our lives. Who do we listen to? Who do we follow? Who shapes our thoughts, our friendship, our relationship with others? All matter and they can either strengthen or weaken our faithfulness to God.
• Hardship: The next thing is life's hardship and challenges. This can also test our faithfulness. There are moments when we pray and do not see answers. In those times we may begin to think that God doesn't care. That God has forgotten me or is not listening to me. Sometimes in the middle of such struggles we are tempted to return to old habits and ways of life from before we came to faith in Christ.

So why is it important for us as children of God to walk faithfully with Him? Because faithfulness keeps our trust in God alive. Also when we remain faithful, especially in difficult seasons of life, our lives become a powerful testimony to the world around us. When we stay faithful, when we walk faithfully with God, we begin to see God's faithfulness more clearly in our lives.

How Can We Walk Faithfully?

How then can we walk faithfully? Let me encourage us with five Ps here. The first one is praise. We must reflect on God's character as Abraham did. On who he is and how he has been faithful to us. And the outcome of this would lead us to worship him. Worship him for who he is. For his character. For his faithfulness.

He is also faithful in protecting us from evil. He strengthens us and guards us from the power of Satan. We are not under the control of the enemy anymore. We belong to God. We belong to this family and we are children of God.

God is also faithful in times of trials. He doesn't allow us to be crushed by hardship. Either he gives us the grace to endure or hope for the future. He opens a way of deliverance.

You might be familiar with the famous hymn, It Is Well With My Soul. That's a beautiful hymn, beautiful song that we sing together. The words were written by a man called Horatio Spafford. And it was written in 1870. And he was a Christian. He trusted God and he experienced loss in his life more than once. It's a big tragedy that he faced. First, he lost his young son. His young son died. Then, he lived in Chicago. And in the Great Chicago Fire, it destroyed almost everything that he had. The land, the house and the property, everything. That's the second thing.

And after that, he decided to send his wife and four young daughters to England as a way to change their life. And while he stayed behind in Chicago in the U.S. to finish work. So, four daughters and his wife on the ship. And the ship crossed the Atlantic. Late one night, it collided with another ship. More than 200 people died at the scene. And all four of Spafford's young daughters drowned and died. So, his wife but survived. And when she reached land, she sent him a short telegram. Only two words. She said, saved alone. And then Spafford left straight away to join his wife.

And while crossing this ocean, the Atlantic, the captain came to him and said, this is the place. This is where your daughters went down. And it was there, right there in that moment. On that ship, above that place that Spafford began to write this hymn. Which came from his own heart and his own experience. He knew what waves could take from you. And then he wrote the line we all know. It is well. It is well with my soul. He was not saying that life felt good. He was saying God was still faithful. He was saying that his soul was held even when his heart was broken.

So, God's faithfulness doesn't mean that life is easy. God's faithfulness means that we are not abounded. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

So, the four things. When we confess our sin before God and ask for his forgiveness, he forgives us. The first letter of John reminds us that God is faithful and forgives our sins when we confess them to him. Having some darkness and sin in our hearts and living with that is not something helpful in our relationship and in our walk faithfully with God.

And the last thing. God is faithful to complete the good work he has begun in us. What he starts, he brings to completion and perfection.

Conclusion

So, the story of Abraham that we are going to read throughout the next couple of weeks is the story that reminds us that faith is not about knowing where the road ends. It is about knowing who walks with us on this road. Abraham's story teaches us that obedience and faithfulness begins before understanding. And that worship sustains us when the journey takes longer than expected.

So, as we listen to God's words today and the week ahead of us, as we enter this new year, we are not being asked to solve the future. We are not being asked to have the perfect plan for 2026. We are being asked the same question Abraham faced. Will you walk with God faithfully when he asks you to move, even when you cannot see the whole picture or cannot see where he is taking you?

Let us pray.

Father, we are so thankful for the example of Abraham and the opportunity that it presents to us to know you. To understand your character and to know who you are in more depth. And we pray that it would motivate us to a right response of obedience and worship to you and to what you speak to us. And we pray that we would depend upon you because of who you are. Pray that we would do this to the glory of your name and the power of the Holy Spirit in Christ's name. Amen. Amen.