SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON 04 October 3, 2004

Abraham Calls On the Name of the LORD
Theme: A Journey with Abraham
Theme Verse: "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." Hebrews 11:8 NIV
Readings: Genesis 12:4-9, Psalm 105:7-11
Memory Verse: "The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth." Psalm 145:18

      This lesson starts where the last one ended--with Abraham's trust and obedience. "So Abram left, as the LORD had told him..." vs. 4. Word received: "I want that obedience from you too.

      They set out for Canaan and "they arrived there". How often do we set out to do what God calls us to do and get side tracked? Abraham, Terah and family had gotten sidetracked in Haran because they settled there when they had set out to go to Canaan. This time Abraham arrived--and didn't settle down and lived in tents. Abraham traveled through the land that God promised to Abraham's descendents. This is like "walking the property line" or "riding the range", first south to Shechem, then on south to Bethel and then southward toward the Negev. He was getting to see the land God promised. (The earth is the LORD's. It was his to give. All of us are only stewards, care-takers of God's world.) It must have been dangerous sometimes. The land God promised was already full of people--the Canaanites and others. But Abraham trusts God and follows his lead. Word received: Trust me to lead and I will make your paths straight.

      PROMISES: Yahweh, the LORD, appeared to Abram at Shechem (there was a huge sacred tree of Moreh there but Abram did not worship at this pagan shrine.) and promised "This land I will give to your offspring." (Remember he didn't have a kid yet!) Notice that it was after he had obeyed that the LORD appears to him and gives him this promise.(Genesis 12:7a) (There was no previous mention a gift of land.) Word received: Are you willing to build for a future you will not see in your lifetime? Abraham was. He was willing to build for his descendents. I want you to have such a heart as well.

      Look at Psalm 105:7-11 again. God's faithfulness is clear here. He is God (vs.7) and his judgments are in all the earth. He remembers and confirms them. Our God is not passive! He keeps the promises he makes. Surely God's appearance was an encouragement and reassurance to Abraham. Word received: I have made promises to you, My people, My church. I will not forget them. Believe me.

       ABRAHAM'S RESPONSE: Abraham's response to God's appearing to him and making the promise of the land (to be fulfilled much later, after the Exodus--over 400 years) was to believe God, even though the circumstances didn't fit, to build an altar to the LORD and to worship him. Part of his worship was to offer a sacrifice to God. A sacrifice to God, who needs nothing, represents a self-giving that costs the giver something. Building an altar is also a way to remember what God has done for you and remember your promises to God. Jesus, on the night before he died, told his disciples to "Do this in remembrance of me."
[NOTE: This remembering is not a modern, psychological act of an individual. It is a communal act and in the majority of cases has God as the subject. When Malachi 4 says , "remember the law of Moses" it means they must act on it, obey it. The word Jesus used is "anamnesis" (Greek) which means to remember in a way that brings the past into the present. When they did this, Jesus would be present with them in power. Jesus' sacrifice was offered "once for all" but through the act of remembering the sacrifice would be newly present. God remembers his promises forever and he wants us to remember too. (A Theological Wordbook of the Bible, Richardson, p. 14)]

      We human beings are pretty forgetful. The Israelites were always forgetting what God had done for them when the next crisis came up. We need help in remembering too.
Then Abraham traveled further south and built another altar between Bethel and Ai. (Bethel was called Luz then. Jacob named it Bethel. Genesis 28:19) Abraham chooses to worship God, give God an offering (representing himself) and make a place of remembrance. This altar was not only for Abraham but for the generations to follow.

      Our Christian altar is a place where we remember what Jesus did and offer worship and ourselves to God in praise and thanksgiving. As we do this, Christ is present to us. There used to be a prayer in the Holy Communion service which said, "Here we offer and present to you, O LORD, ourselves, our souls and bodies to be a reasonable holy and living sacrifice to you." Christ's sacrifice is unrepeatable but we offer not only money, bread and wine but ourselves to God in Response to what He has done. God wants us to call on His Name and build altars in our hearts. Word received: Yes, I AM always near you, but are you always true to Me? Set an altar in your heart for "the LORD watches over all that love/honor him." (Psalm 145:20)

      Abraham recognized and acted on God's call, a call not only to follow where God led but a call, a claim on his life. Word received: "So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him."(Genesis 12:4) My call was lodged in his heart, I want My call to you lodged in your heart. God's call to Abraham and to us is to trust , follow and obey and worship him. "Offer yourselves as living sacrifices, which is your spiritual worship." (Romans 12:1) Word received: Come, follow Me. I want My people to worship Me.

      Look at the Memory Verse. It is a promise with a condition. God promises to be near those who call on him in truth. In the Old Testament the words for "truth" refer to a quality which properly belongs to God and is also a quality of his activity. Truth is also what God requires of people. We call on God so we can see what's really true in his eyes, not in our own eyes. It's the way God sees things that is true -- that is the bedrock reality. God is truth. We try to match up our seeing with his. Word received: I want My truth to lodge in your heart so that when you call on Me, I will be near you.

      This calling on the Name of the LORD (Yahweh) is a pattern in Abraham's life. It is not just something occasional or when he's in a jam. Word received: That's the pattern I want for you too--that you will call on My Name.
What are some of the things that "calling on the Name of the LORD" means? It means to ask God to be actively present (to invoke him). God's Name has power to make things happen. His name also tells us something about who he is and what he has done. Peter and John healed the lame man by the power of the Name of Jesus (Acts 3). It is not magic or just a formula to use. Remember the sons of Sceva who tried to use Jesus' name with believing in him and go beaten up (Acts 19).

       GOD'S RESPONSE: We looked at Abraham's responses to God. Psalm 105:7-11 talks about God's response. His response to those who call on him in truth is to hear their cry and save them. God is faithful to his promises. God is faithful to his covenants "for 1,000 generations". If a generation is 40 years then that would be 40,000 years--longer than we can imagine. The only thing God forgets is what he has promised to forget -- our sins if we truly repent and confess them.

      Abraham will never live to see God's promises fulfilled but he trusts God for the long haul (even though he slips up several times) so he worships God and builds altars. In this lesson we see Abraham waiting in faith. Habakkuk 2:3 says" For the vision is yet for an appointed time...though it tarries, wait for it, because it will surely come. It will not tarry." God had a plan for Abraham's life and he calls us to trust him that he has a plan for us too. Word received: As you can see, I had a plan for Abram. I have a plan for you too. Trust Me. Call on Me. I will surely answer you.

Word received: I want the children to call upon Me around My altar.

For the adults: When you come to God's altar today, remember God's call, His faithfulness. Trust Him about His plan for you and offer yourself to Him anew. Call on His Name and worship Him.

Teaching Ideas for Lesson 04

Please us the Study Guide first.

Go over the Memory Verse to make sure the children understand it and then see if they have memorized it.

Make sure they know what happened in the story.

Basic points of the lesson for little ones:
      1. God wants us to believe and follow him (trust and obey) like his friend Abraham did. God wants to be our closest friend.
      2. God made promises to Abraham and kept them -- even though it took a long time. We can trust God to keep his promises.
      3. Abraham called on God's name and built an altar -- to thank and praise God, to help him remember and to give a gift to God.
      4. God want us to build an altar in our hearts so he can be as close to us as our breath, so we can praise him, remember him and give him our hearts -- over and over.
      5. God promises to answer us when we ask for help or want to talk -- if we respect that what God says is true and mean what we say.

Activities:
After the lesson the children's classes will go upstairs and gather around the altar for a little instruction and then call on the LORD.