Enough Good to Go Around
Sunday, November 2, 2025
Scriptures: Genesis 13: 1-11
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Summary: In the third sermon of our new series, Big Promises, Small Steps, Jeremy explores Genesis 13 through the lens of Abraham's moral failure, divine silence, and eventual transformation. He argues that Abraham's wealth is not a sign of blessing but a weight of consequence, prompting a return to faithfulness. Jeremy highlights Abrahams scarcity mindset up until this point and his change of heart toward believing God’s promise for his life. Jeremy encourages us to examine our own lives and the ways we handle discernment, trust, and generosity.
The weight of Gold: Jeremy points out how the author of Genesis frames Abraham’s amassed wealth as a burden and reminder of his failures rather than a byproduct of God’s blessing. His wealth is ill-gotten, the price being Sarah’s trust. Jeremy encourages us to take a closer look at the rewards in our lives, as they may not always be what we thought they were. We might be able to see our actions in new light, if we’re willing to learn lessons about how we got here in the first place.
When You’re Ready: Jeremy argues that sometimes when we’re having to be patient with discernment in our lives—when we have a plan but just can’t execute it yet—we might be the ones who need to mature before we begin. Like Abraham, we might be called before we’re ready, and our readiness may sometimes come only with time and internal growth.
East of West: Abraham is finally ready to face his call, and embraces abundance by letting his nephew, Lot, choose which land to claim. West, Jeremy explains, is away from Eden, away from good land. East, is connected to abundance, source, and flourishing. Jeremy posits that the silence that Abraham hears from God, forces him to reckon with the promise from earlier. Does he truly believe it.
The Problem with Good News: God’s silence woke Abraham up to the scarcity mindset, and propelled him into a different way of thinking about the world. Jeremy challenges us to do the same when we start to compare our lives to others, when we start to believe that other people’s successes have a bearing on our lives. God’s promises of abundance and flourishing—that there is enough to go around—still stand. The challenges is, do we believe them in our daily lives. -
Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions and reflections are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.
Connect: Abraham is carrying around wealth and gold that he accumulated shamefully in this story in Genesis. If you can think of something in your life that had a similar affect (ideally something lighthearted or simple), feel free to share it. Perhaps you have a small scar on your body from a silly accident, or a prize you won for the wrong reason, or a memorable story you and your family retell each other about ending up in the wrong place on holiday.
Q: What’s something simple from your life that reminds you of the way you ended up with it in the first place every time you recall it?
Share: Share your thoughts about being called while immature or being in the midst of growth. Jeremy examined Abraham’s winding journey to Canaan, to Egypt, and then back to Canaan and his poor decisions along the way. Eventually Abraham’s choices compel him to seek out God’s voice again, but he hears nothing.
Q: What have you learned about yourself in season’s of life where God was silent?
Reflect: Reflect on Abraham’s change of character in the end of chapter 13. Specifically, Abraham’s shift away from a mindset of scarcity by taking things into his own hands (by jeopardizing his wife’s safety), toward a mindset of abundance and generosity and trust in God’s promises for his life (by giving Lot first pick of the land). Reflect on this quote,
“The historian Thomas Cahill once wrote about the significance of Abraham’s story, he said,
‘Out of ancient humanity, which knows in its bones that all striving must end in death, comes a leader who says he has been given an impossible promise.
A dream of something new, something better, something yet to happen, something in the future.’For Abraham to offer his nephew, the known quantity so that he can face toward what could be,
This is as, far as I'm concerned, where Abraham finally embraces his call.”
Q: What helps you move from a mindset of scarcity to one of trust and generosity in your own life?
Engage: Engage with the idea that Abraham is the recipient of a great blessing from God, yet immediately fumbles, in more ways than one, and finds himself leaning on God’s patient grace to try again. This sermon series takes a close look at the twisting stories of the matriarchs and patriarchs of the Jewish and Christian faiths and how their lives are both admirable and also full of failure.
Q: How might the way you view your own faith journey and life in general change if you recognize the patience and grace that God extends toward Abraham in his story—allowing him to suffer consequences, but also being steady and present throughout.
Take away: What is your takeaway from the message or today’s conversation?
Prayer from the sermon:
God of promise and patience,
we come today carrying both our hopes and our hesitations.
Even as you call us, as you once called Abraham,
to step out toward something new
and yet, as is often the case, our steps are small, uncertain, and slow.Still, you walk with us.
when our choices are tangled,
when our faith is more aspiration than certain,
And so in this moment,
open us to the wonder of these ancient tales.
Help us to listen, not just for what Abraham and Sarah heard,
but for what you might still be speaking today.Teach us to trust that your promises are larger than our failures,
and that every journey, even the winding ones,
can bring us back to you.
In the strong name of the risen christ, we pray
Amen. -
CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 5
MUSIC Curated by Kevin B.
John Mark McMillian - Ancient Love
Mission House - Psalm 116
Brooke Ligertwood - Holy Song
Kristian Stanfill - In Christ Alone
COMMUNITY PRAYER
Written by Alexandra Chubachi
These past few weeks have been complicated for many families in our community. The routine has been upended, the children are dysregulated, and many are left feeling frustrated, confused or burnt-out.Others in this community are not in the thick of it, and your capacity is a little higher. Maybe you are watching your friends struggle and stepping in to carry some of the load.
And there are others here who have been weary for a while. You are not a stranger to pain, and you have been carrying a lot, for a long time.
Wherever you land on this spectrum this morning, I want to pray for you now.
God who hears us,
We come to you today in so many different states. Thank you that you are big enough to hold us all. We welcome you into our joy and cry for you in our struggle.
Meet us here.
God, come close to those in our community who are heavy with grief, with illness, with pain, or with the weight of simply too much. May they know you are present in the dark, that you offer refreshment for the soul, that your Spirit prays over them when they do not have the words.
Loving God, Come close to those who have been carrying an extra load in recent weeks. They are discouraged, angry, uncertain, spent. They have been pouring out for others and running low on resources. Their heart aches for the world, both close to home and abroad. May they know that you are a God who is gentle, who offers rest and lifts burdens.
God of Community, help us as a church embody these things. Help us be people who are gentle with each other. Teach us how to sit with each other in the darkest moments, and to look for ways to share the load.
May God go with you today. Amen.
SERIES BUMPER
Big Promises Small Steps
