God made Abraham and Sarah wait more than 25 years for the son He promised—and Paul later reveals why, showing that Hagar and Sarah, Ishmael and Isaac, were a hidden picture of two covenants: law and grace, slavery and freedom. In this study, we'll walk through Genesis 21:1–21 and Galatians 4:21–5:1 and show why God waited until no explanation remained but Himself, and why salvation is a gift you cannot help pay for.

SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS:

- Read Romans 4:18–21 (about Abraham). Abraham's faith grew as he rehearsed what God had actually said. Share a specific promise from Scripture you've leaned on in a hard season.

- Read Hebrews 11:8–13 and 11:39–40. Abraham received Isaac. Many others in that same chapter died still waiting. How do we speak honestly to someone who has waited years and never received the thing? What does faith look like when the answer is "No," or "Not in your lifetime"?

- Read Acts 15:1–11. Peter calls the Law a yoke no one has ever been able to carry—the same argument Paul makes in Galatians 4. Why do you think a "faith plus something" message is so attractive to religious people? What was the appeal of the Judaizers' teaching, and where do you hear a version of it today?

- Read Philippians 3:4–11. What are some things that you used to find your identity and worth in (or still do)? How did Christ work in you to find your identity in Him instead (or how IS He working in you currently)?

Abraham had walked with God for over 25 years and had a promise from Jesus Himself — then fear sent him straight back down an old path of sin he'd never bothered to close off. In this study, we'll unpack why we return to sins we thought we'd outgrown, why a half-truth is a whole lie, and what practical steps actually mark the old road "DEAD END."

SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS:

- Read Romans 4:18-21. How do you reconcile this description of Abraham with his actions in Genesis 20? And how should that encourage us regarding the way the Lord views us?

- Read Romans 2:14-15. Do you think Abimelech is in Heaven? Why or why not? What’s the difference between a man like him and a Mormon neighbor who lives a morally upright life?

- Read Ephesians 4:25. Is there an area of life or a certain subject where you struggle with half-truths?

- Read Philippians 2:3-4. The worst part of Abraham's plan was that the plan removed all risk from him and placed it entirely on Sarah. He was protected; she was exposed. Who has paid the price for your fear? A spouse, a kid, an employee, a friend?

*This one may take some courage to answer honestly. It's the kind of thing that's very hard to see in yourself and very easy to see from the outside. (Married folks: this is a good week to ask your spouse rather than guess.

Peter calls him “righteous Lot” — a drunk, a coward, and a failure as a father whose slow drift in Sodom warped his family’s thinking until the unthinkable seemed reasonable. This study traces the real cost of compromise, the call to hold the line at home, and the staggering grace that credits righteousness to broken people — and ran the line of the Messiah straight through Lot’s family.

SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS:

- Read Isaiah 48:17-18. Have you ever obeyed a command from God and found it to be far more beneficial than you expected?

- Read Romans 12:1-2. What are the top 3 things in your life that are shaping how you think? Are they helping or hurting you to think in a godly way?

- Read Romans 4:3-5. How do you make sense of how Lot behaved when Peter describes him as "righteous"?

- Read Psalm 103:2-5. When you're facing doubt, what's something the Lord has done for you that others could remind you of to strengthen your faith in that moment?

- Read Deuteronomy 6:6-9. How do we practically build homes, marriages, and families where Christ is central?

Why did Jesus say the end times would look like "the days of Lot"? This verse-by-verse study walks through the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the prophetic parallels emerging in our own culture, and the sobering warning of Lot's wife — a picture of a heart that never left the world behind.

SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS:

- Read Matthew 5:13-16 and Genesis 19:1. Lot sat in Sodom's gate — in the culture but absorbed by it. Jesus calls us to be salt and light — in the culture but distinct. Practically, what's the difference between engaging culture and compromising with it in your workplace, school, or neighborhood?

- Read Genesis 19:6-8. Lot's offer of his daughters shows how spiritually disoriented a believer can become while trying to fit in with the culture. Where do you feel the strongest pull to accommodate the culture — work, family, entertainment, social media? What guardrails do you have (or need)?

- Read Genesis 19:14. Lot's own sons-in-law thought he was joking. His lifestyle had cost him his spiritual credibility. What builds — or erodes — that kind of credibility?

- Read Genesis 19:15-16. Lot hesitated — and the angels grabbed his hand "because of the LORD's compassion for him." Share a time God was merciful to you despite your hesitation, doubt, or foot-dragging.

- Read Jeremiah 29:4-7 and 1 Peter 2:11-12. God told the exiles to seek the welfare of a pagan city, yet Lot was told to flee his. How do we know when to engage, when to resist, and when to flee? Where do you land, and why?

At 99, Sarah had quietly stopped believing God would ever keep His promise to her — until He overheard her cynical laugh and asked, “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” This study of Genesis 18 walks through Sarah’s unbelief, Abraham’s bold intercession for Sodom, and the God whose character is big enough to do wonders even for you.

SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS:

- Read Psalm 9:10. Has growing in your knowledge and understanding of God's character affected how much you trust Him? How?

- Read Psalm 84:1-2, 10. Where do you experience the Lord's presence? Are you enthusiastic about it, as Abraham was when Jesus and the two angels visited him?

- Read Daniel 3:16-18. How do you reconcile God's goodness with the fact that some prayers for things like healing get answered, while others don't?

- One of the most common apologetics questions is, "If God is good, why do bad things happen to good people?" How would you answer?

- Read 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. Open your time of prayer by thanking God that we are destined to be with Him in paradise rather than to experience His wrath (which we deserve).

God was never after the mark on Abraham’s body — He was after his heart. In this study, we unpack circumcision, covenant, and the daily battle between flesh and Spirit, and discover why real faith obeys God now — before we have all the answers.

SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS:

- Read Ezekiel 36:26-27. Looking back, where have you seen God soften something in you that used to be hard?

- Read Mark 7:20–23. Are there any changes in behavior that you're trying to work on right now? What wrong beliefs do you think have driven that wrong behavior?

- Read Hebrews 11:8. Tell us about a time you followed God’s leading before you understood the whole plan. What made it hard? How did it turn out?

- Read Ephesians 2:8-10. What do you tend to add to Jesus as proof that you’re really OK with God? How do VV.8–9 and V.10 hold together without turning grace into a checklist?

- Read Joshua 24:14-15. How can husbands and fathers lead their families in a God-honoring way, without compromise, yet not being a dictator?

After 14 years of silence, God meets Abram — now 99 and drifting — and doesn’t open with a rebuke but with His own name: “I am God Almighty.” In this study, we explore what God says to a believer who has wandered, why He gives Abram a new name and an everlasting covenant, and how the strange sign of circumcision points to the heart of discipleship: lordship — surrendering every part of our lives, even our flesh, to God. It’s a message about walking with God, the difference between earning blamelessness and receiving it, and the Spirit’s power to keep Christ on the throne of our hearts.

SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS:

- Read Luke 15:17-24 (the prodigal son comes home). It had been 14 years since Abram heard from God, and he had drifted. Have you ever gone through a season of feeling distant from God, and then sensed Him meet you again? What was that like?

- Read aloud Isaiah 6:1-5. God reintroduced Himself to Abram as “God Almighty,” and Abram fell facedown. When Isaiah glimpsed God’s holiness, he responded the same way. When was the last time God felt that big to you? What tends to shrink your view of Him day to day?

- God renamed Abram “Abraham” so he could see himself the way God saw him. How do you think God views you? Has your understanding of that question changed as your faith has grown?

- Read Romans 2:28-29 and Matthew 7:21-23. The sermon warned that there is no salvation by ethnicity or by outward ritual — only by faith that is real on the inside. How can we tell whether our heart has truly been changed by faith, or whether we're just "checking the boxes" through external behaviors (e.g., church attendance)?

- GROUP PRAYER (decide beforehand whether to stay in one group or split into guys/girls for this question). Read 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 and Philippians 2:12-13. Abraham couldn’t consistently keep his flesh off the throne — but we have the indwelling Holy Spirit, who gives power Abraham never had. Where do you most want the Spirit to grow and change you this season? Pray that over one another.

When a pregnant, frightened Hagar runs into the wilderness to escape a mess she didn't create, she discovers that the God she didn't even know already saw her. In this study of Genesis 16:4b–16, we unpack why waiting on the Lord is active rather than passive, how shortcuts around God's plan create fallout far bigger than we imagine, and why El Roi—"the God who sees"—still pursues the running, the overlooked, and the worn out. It's a message about trusting God's timing, the real cost of taking matters into our own hands, and the relentless grace that finds us first.

SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS:

- Read Lamentations 3:25-26 and Psalm 62:1-5. The sermon argued that waiting on the Lord is active, not passive — praying, getting into the Word, praising, and listening for His voice. When you've been in seasons of waiting, what spiritual practices have you found most encouraging?

- Read James 1:5 and Proverbs 3:5-6. Abram and Sarai made two huge decisions without ever praying about them. How have you seen prayer make a difference when you were facing a big decision?

- If someone asked you, "What should I expect to happen when I pray over a big decision?" How would you answer?

- Read Romans 12:2 and 1 John 2:15-17. Where do you notice the culture quietly shaping your thinking more than Scripture does? (Be honest — this is hard for all of us.)

- Read 1 Peter 2:13-21 and Hebrews 13:17. God met Hagar with grace — and then called her to do a hard thing: go back and submit to Sarai. Where is submitting to authority hardest for you? And how do we discern the line between God-honoring submission and a situation that is genuinely wrong?