Our Summer Sermon Series “All in the Family” continues this Sunday with an episode called The Bold and the Biblical: Abrahams Test.
Genesis 22:1-14 — Breaking the bonds and defying death.
God puts Abraham through the unthinkable: sacrifice his beloved son Isaac as an offering. Without protest, Abraham sets out, the question of “where’s the lamb?” hanging heavy between father and son. At the final moment, knife raised, an angel intervenes—God provides a ram instead. Faith proven, covenant secured, and a name given to the place: the Lord will provide. A gripping test of trust pushed to its absolute limit.
After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. And the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them walked on together.
When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide,” as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
Genesis 22:1-14
Tune in Sundays at 11:15AM in person or online!
Last week’s episode:
As the Desert Turns: The Rescue of Hagar and Ishmael
Genesis 21:8-21 — In a desolate desert, a new nation is born.
Sarah demands Hagar and Ishmael be sent away, fearing for Isaac’s inheritance. Abraham hesitates, but God reassures him: Isaac carries the covenant, yet Ishmael won’t be abandoned. Cast into the wilderness with dwindling supplies, Hagar fears her son will die of thirst—until a divine intervention reveals a hidden well and renews God’s promise. Ishmael survives, growing up under God’s protection to forge his own destiny in the desert.
Next week’s episode
The Young and the Marriageable: Isaac and Rebekah
Genesis 24:34-38,42-49,58-67 — God is in the details.
Abraham’s servant arrives on a mission: find a wife for Isaac among his master’s own kin. He recounts a desert prayer for a sign—and how Rebekah appeared at the well, fulfilling it perfectly. Convinced this is divine providence, her family asks if she’ll go. Rebekah agrees without hesitation, journeying to meet a stranger who becomes her husband. Isaac falls for her instantly, finding comfort after grief. A whirlwind romance, written in the stars.