June 8, 2023
“O, swear not by the moon, th’ inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circle orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.” (William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet)
I think many of us are hesitant to believe promises. Perhaps we have been hurt by others who have made vows of some kind to us, only to have our hearts hurt by the breaking of those commitments. Or perhaps we are cautious about promises because we know the slippery nature of our own souls; we know that our dependency can wax and wane.
While we may waffle in our promises, the Lord does not. The promises of God are a sure foundation on which we can build our lives. We can rely on the promises of God to give us blessed assurance.
During this summer, we are going to be exploring Old Testament texts from the Revised Common Lectionary and these stories come to us from Genesis. Specifically, these stories are about the life and family of Abraham. Abraham receives a promise from God and that promise is kept. However, we will also find that (like us) Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Esau, and all of the other colorful cast of characters we will meet, struggle to believe those promises. Perhaps somewhere in the midst of the intersection between the eternal promises of God and human failure, we can learn about how to live into and rely on those promises in our own lives.
I hope you will join us, sisters and brothers, for this sermon series:
June 11 – Into the Unknown (Genesis 12:1-9)
June 18 – Laughter is the Best Medicine (Genesis 18:1-15)
June 25 – God Has Heard (Genesis 21:8-21)
July 2 – Only Begotten Son (Genesis 22:1-14)
July 9 – Water Cooler Talk (Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67)
July 16 – Brother Against Brother (Genesis 25:19-34)
July 23 – Stairway to Heaven (Genesis 28:10-19)
July 30 – Working a Double Shift (Genesis 29:15-28)
