Big Idea

God’s faithfulness deserves our surrender.

Scripture Study

Read Genesis 22:1-18.

Sermon Summary

1. What did God ask of Abraham, and why? 
2. How would you describe God’s request of Abraham? Cruel? Extreme? Investigative? Just? Loving? Why?
3. How did Abraham’s response to God demonstrate a posture of surrender? Why would Abraham be willing to sacrifice his only son Isaac, knowing that Isaac represented everything that God had promised Abraham for decades?
4. How did God ultimately provide for Abraham, and why?
5. How is Genesis 22:6-18 an early glimpse of the Gospel, a foreshadowing of Jesus’s life and death?
6. What do we learn about God in this passage?

Personal Reflection

1. Have you ever sensed God asking you to do a seemingly impossible task? How did you respond, and why?
2. How is surrender different from sacrifice or obedience? What does it look like for you to live a fully surrendered life to God? What is your “Isaac” - the one thing you wish God wouldn’t ask you to surrender for His purposes? Do you really trust God enough to give up even _____________?
3. Sunday’s sermon challenged us to consider that, at the end of our lives, we won’t see the great sacrifices we made for God. Instead, we will primarily see God’s steadfast faithfulness to us. How can you already testify to God’s faithfulness in your life?
4. The fear of consequence or cost keeps many people from fully surrendering to God. How can you overcome this fear and live truly surrendered to God?
5. Abraham was willing to give his own son as an act of obedience to God. Today, Christians give less, per capita, than during the Great Depression. People with salaries of less than $20k give 8x times more than someone who makes $75k. What do we make of these heartbreaking realities?
6. What’s the “ram in the thicket” of the Christian tithing experience?