Podcasts about Ishmael

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics: Yud Beis Tammuz – 99 years: What does this day teach us? What happened on this day and what lessons does it offer us today? Why does the celebration of the Frierdiker Rebbe's liberation extend for two days – 12-13 Tammuz? Why is this month named after a Babylonian idol? What is the spiritual energy of this month? Is there a connection between the events of this day in 5754 and back in the time of Joshua when the sun was stopped? Is there something special about today, June 21, being the longest day of the year? Why didn't Joshua simply pray that the enemy be defeated? What is the mission of Chassidim who are not on shlichus? Is the Rebbe perfect? Follow-up What lessons do we learn from living with the times, with this week's Torah parsha? Can we heal people today by using a similar treatment to gazing at a serpent of brass mounted on a pole, as Moses was commanded? Why was Moses striking the rock such a great sin? Why was he not given the opportunity to do teshuva? Why were others not given the opportunity to do teshuva just as the sons of Korach were? What was the sin of Baal Pe'or? What lessons does this despicable sin offer us today? Why is a Parsha named after the evil Balak? What parts of Balaam's blessings were about Moshiach? What can we learn from Balaam's closing plot against the Jews? How should we react to the President's latest deal with Iran? Can we parallel the back-and-forth attitude of Iran to what Pharaoh and the Egyptians did regarding freeing the Jews? Tammuz Gimmel Tammuz Chukas-Balak Iran How is today's unrest in the Middle East a continuation of the unresolved conflict between Ishmael and Isaac? And what can we do to achieve permanent peace? Is it a good idea to allow my son to travel with a group to visit the concentration camps in Poland and Ukraine?

Romans 9 is one of the most challenging chapters in the New Testament—but it is also one of the most important.In this lesson, we explore Paul's teaching on God's sovereignty, Israel's special role in God's plan, and the relationship between God's choices and human faith. Far from teaching that God arbitrarily saves some and condemns others, Romans 9 reveals a God who faithfully carries out His redemptive plan through history while extending mercy to all who believe.In this study, you'll learn:• Why Paul grieved for his fellow Israelites • What Israel's special privileges were and why they mattered • The difference between God's choice of a covenant lineage and personal salvation • Why Isaac was chosen over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau • What it means that God hardened Pharaoh's heart • The significance of the potter and the clay illustration • How Jews and Gentiles alike become vessels of mercy through faith • Why salvation has always been rooted in God's grace rather than human achievementRomans 9 reminds us that God is sovereign, trustworthy, and faithful. His plan was never based on human greatness, but on His mercy, wisdom, and desire to bless all nations through Jesus Christ.Key Text: Romans 9"Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame." (Romans 9:33)If this lesson helped you better understand one of Scripture's most debated chapters, please like, subscribe, and share it with others seeking a deeper understanding of God's Word.#Romans9 #GodsSovereignty #BibleStudy #RomansSeries #FaithAndGrace #ChristianSermon #Salvation #PotterAndClay #ChurchOfChrist #GodsMercy

This week we continue our series, Beyond Fear, and turn to the story of God widening the circle of God's love in Ishmael. While fear asks, "Who is in and who is out?", we put our hope in a God whose loves is always larger than our fear. 

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Sermon from St Andrews Church, Slip End, UK. Given by our vicar Rev Lindsey Moss, recorded on the 21st June 2026 on Sanctuary Sunday Download Mp3 HERE! Sermon starts at 4:55 Genesis 21 v 8-21 Hagar and Ishmael sent away 8 … Continue reading →

When kicked out of her home with her son, Ishmael, how did God take notice of Hagar in the midst of her distress, and in turn, how did she see God as a faithful provider? Our walk with God provides us the opportunity to experience the gift of life-giving love reflected in our freedom, liberation, and wholeness – always anchored ...

In this message, Richie Reeder preaches from Genesis 21 on the story of Hagar and Ishmael, showing how God sees, hears, and provides for those who have been pushed to the margins. He explores themes of broken families, rejection, and being an outcast, connecting the biblical narrative to the painful but familiar experiences many carry today. Richie concludes by emphasizing that even when others cast us out, God does not cast us aside, and he invites listeners to both recognize God's provision in their own deserts and pursue those who have been forgotten.

1) What is the purpose of the Law according to Galatians 3:19-20?2) Can you discuss the issue of demonism in Luke 11:14, 23-26?3) Can you explain the difference between the spirit and the soul?4) Why is Ishmael not part of Abraham's blessing, but all the sons of Jacob are included?5) Why did God allow David to be harassed by Saul so much?6) Is the Christmas tree part of a pagan ritual based on Jeremiah 10:1-3?7) If we do not honor parents according to Ephesians 6:2-3, will we have a short life and things never being well for us?

Join Christine Darg as she explores the Ark's historical and modern geopolitical significance. Discover various theories about the Ark's location, including definite claims from Jerusalem's Temple Institute as well as the Ethiopian church. Learn about the potential impact of the Ark's discovery on global religious dynamics. This video also looks into the spiritual reconciliation between Isaac's and Ishmael's descendants, reflecting on biblical narratives and their relevance today.

Honoring Abdullah Ibrahim, South African jazz musician, welcoming his friend, ally Deborah Felmeth to guide us into the enormity of his great soul, his influential dedication, practice, that he may resonate in us all, with Music –  Africa – tears and laughter – Ishmael,  & “Mandenberg,” that he played at Nelson Mandela's Inauguration, and was played at Zohran Mamdani's Inauguration… CoyoteNetworkNews.com · Events, Councils, & More Visionary Activist on Patreon The post Honoring Abdullah Ibrahim appeared first on KPFA.

One of my all time favorite musicians has moved on - Abdullah Ibrahim aka Dollar Brand, South African legend, whose tunes fueled the anti-apartheid movement. This tribute is long overdue since I have played his records consistently over many years. Truly majestic and inspirational music. These are just a couple of my favorites. Tracklist: Mannenberg, Bra Joe from Killamanjaro, Liberation Dance, Sathima, Ishmael

"The holy Martyrs Manuel, Sabel, and Ishmael, Persians by race and brethren according to the flesh, were sent by the Persian King as ambassadors to Julian the Apostate to negotiate a peace treaty. While with him at a place near Chalcedon, they refused to join him in offering sacrifice to his idols. Scorning the immunity universally accorded ambassadors, he had them slain in the year 362. This was a cause of the war with Persia in which Julian perished miserably the following year." (Great Horologion)

Forgiveness is Freedom David Eells – 3/27/26  (audio)    We need faith in order to receive God's benefits, faith to receive His healings, deliverances, provision, salvation and so on. There is something that's just as important as faith because unforgiveness can block you from receiving any of that.  Mat 6:15 ASV  But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.   Unforgiveness brings the curse of the Bible listed in Deuteronomy 28. It is a very big problem and a major reason why people don't receive what they need from God.   How do we prove that we have forgiven and how do we show forgiveness? In other words, how is forgiveness manifested through us to others? And how do we show, or what do we show, to others to prove that we have forgiven them? I think we can see some pretty good signs from this verse: (Rom.12:14) Bless them that persecute you; bless, and curse not. When you're persecuted by someone, your doesn't really want to forgive them. But we really don't have any choice and it's the right thing to do, since the Lord has forgiven us such a great debt its only right to forgive everybody else their debt according to Jesus in Mat 18.  The penalty there is that Father turns the unforgiving over to tormenting demons in Mat 18:34-35. Forgiveness is extremely important if you want to bear fruit so the Lord can walk in you.  You will stumble without His grace. Forgiveness is every bit as important as the faith message because God does not give grace to people who don't forgive, or to people who judge, or to people who are bitter, or to people who are “just hurt” as they say. (Jas.2:1) My brethren, hold not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the Lord] of glory, with respect of persons. Are you holding the faith of Jesus Christ our Lord with respect of persons? James goes on to give the example of having more respect for the rich man than the poor man.   Then he speaks of another form of respect of persons that's also quite common. (Jas.2:8) Howbeit if ye fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: (9) but if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. If you're seeking to be justified by something that you are doing, but that somebody else isn't doing, be very, very careful because there are things that you are not doing and they are doing. And so James says not to be a respecter of persons. As it was with those under the Law, it also is with us. (Jas.2:11) For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou dost not commit adultery, but killest, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So if you've transgressed in anything, then you've transgressed. If you've sinned in anything, then you have sinned. And, of course, if you are not willing to give grace to someone else when they have sinned, just remember that God doesn't have to give you grace when you sin.   James warns us, (Jas.2:12) So speak ye, and so do, as men that are to be judged by a law of liberty. In other words, if you want to be judged by a law of liberty, be sure you judge other people by a law of liberty. Judging is the first thing you do when you don't forgive someone. You are judging this person unworthy of forgiveness when Christ already forgave you and Jesus warned us about that. (Mat.6:14) For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. (15) But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. The Father will turn you over to the tormenters until you pay your debt to God, since you didn't think your brother was worthy of having his debt to you cancelled by receiving forgiveness from you.  (Jas.2:12) So speak ye, and so do, as men that are to be judged by a law of liberty. What's the “law of liberty”? Well, he's using the Law here by way of an example. If you demand the Law be used on someone else, instead of giving them the same grace and “liberty” that the Lord offered to you, but you don't want to demand the Law be used to judge you, then you need to remember that the Lord will use the Law on you. (Jas.2:13) For judgment [is] without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy: mercy glorieth against judgment. What you sow, you reap, according to the universal law that the Lord has given us. (Gal.6:7) Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. If you sow mercy and forgiveness, and refuse to judge unrighteously, as Romans 14 warns against doing, then God will show grace and mercy to you.   God is the judge. When Paul turned a sinner over to Satan in 1Co 5 it was God who judged and it must be that way today. This was governmental unforgiveness. Personal judgment and personal unforgiveness is owed by us. Governmental unforgiveness coming from God through elders is important to protect others. When this happens God will confirm the judgment. But in Pro 26:2  As the sparrow in her wandering, as the swallow in her flying, So the curse that is causeless alighteth not.  How dangerous it is, for we can actually sever our own grace and ruin our own future by not forgiving other people. (Jas.3:14) But if ye have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart, glory not and lie not against the truth. Faction, of course, is seeking to separate people from others, especially to separate followers through selfish ambition. Judgment, jealousy, faction, criticism, gossip; these are all manifestations of unforgiveness, and many forms of it, because people are tempted to “lie against the truth” when they're attempting to cause division through jealousy or selfish ambition because they want something that God has not given to them.   But we should always wait and trust in the Lord to provide and ordain things for us, and not try to gain it ourselves. Jealousy causes people to try and obtain things through their own efforts. (Jas.3:15) This wisdom is not [a wisdom] that cometh down from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. (16) For where jealousy and faction are, there is confusion and every vile deed. The reason these people are turned over to vile deeds is because of unforgiveness the Father turns them over to tormentors as Jesus said. Mat 18:34-35  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due.  35  So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.    Many people have made themselves judges and think they have the right not to forgive other people but, if they are usurping this position, in other words, if they're seizing and holding this position, office, or power, etc., instead of God giving it to them, then they're going to bring a curse upon themselves. God guarantees it. (Jas.4:11) Speak not one against another, brethren. He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh against the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judgest the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. (12) One [only] is the lawgiver and judge, [even] he who is able to save and to destroy: but who art thou that judgest thy neighbor? Do you see what I'm saying here? James is saying the exact same thing. Only One has the right to judge; only the Lord has the right and He chooses through whom He will judge and it will not be someone in sin.  2Co 10:6  and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience shall be made full.  The apostle Paul said, (Rom.2:1) Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost practice the same things. If you judge others, then you judge yourself. We can't judge, be unforgiving, bitter, factious; or be attempting to bring judgment on other people. (Eph.4:29) Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth ... (Jas.3:8) But the tongue can no man tame; [it is] full of deadly poison. Of course, God can tame the tongue and sometimes we learn obedience through the things we suffer.   The Bible said that even about Jesus. (Heb.5:8) Though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered. When we suffer for speaking things we shouldn't, it motivates us to be very careful before the Lord. (Eph.4:29) Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying (or “building up”) as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear. It's always legal to edify, to build up, to give grace; it's not always legal to tear down and we have to be careful that it's only the Lord Who does that. He is the Judge. It is legal to give grace but it is not always legal to judge. (Eph.4:30) And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption. (31) Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice. These are all manifestations of unforgiveness.  Paul is warning us here and he mentions railing in (1Co.5:11) But as it is, I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one, no not to eat. As a sin that is worthy of separating from people, he commands us to separate from any man who is called a brother, if he is reviling or railing. Reviling is from Loidoros, meaning abusive railing. The word for “railing” is blasphemia, which is the same word for “blaspheming,” and it means “to speak against.” Both reviling and railing are speaking against others. And as we just read in James, “Speak not one against another, brethren.” (Eph.4:31) Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice. If you don't put this away, you will pay for it and usually pretty quickly. Generally, your body will start going downhill, circumstances will start going downhill, the grace of God will be gone from you, etc. (Eph.4:32) And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you. We see that so often in Scripture: if God forgave you, you have to forgive.   (Col.3:12) Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering. A person who judges other people illegally is a proud person. A person who is unforgiving is a proud person. This is a person who has put him or herself up on a pedestal and thinks they have the right to not forgive, that they have the right to judge instead of giving that right only to God. They are sitting in the place of God. He says that through lowliness, meekness and longsuffering, we suffer long with other people's errors and problems and weaknesses, etc. (Col.3:12) Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; (13) forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye.  Paul is talking about personal forgiveness here and we always have to give personal forgiveness every time. He's not talking about governmental unforgiveness because it would truly be a sin to forgive someone in a governmental situation. When it's the responsibility of an elder to judge and they don't do it, then they are sinning. For instance faction must be dealt with swiftly or it will spread and destroy many with “vile deeds”. However we always have to forgive any offense against us personally or we won't be forgiven, which is the foundation of our salvation. In Mat 18:15  And if thy brother sin (against thee [some ancient authorities omit this and it does not have a numeric pattern]), go, show him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. The factious always disobey the command to go to the brother they are judging “alone” which makes them backbiters or back stabbers (Rom 1:30). They do this because their slander will be refuted by the witnesses. (Col.3:14) And above all these things [put on] love, which is the bond of perfectness. Of course, if you love your brother as yourself and you are not a respecter of persons, then you're going to want to afford every right and every privilege to him that you want for yourself.  This will bond you instead of divide you. If you want God to judge you according to grace and mercy, then remember you have to give that same grace and mercy to others. (Col.3:15) And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were called in one body; and be ye thankful. (16) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. It's not possible to let the Word of Christ “dwell in you richly” unless you're going to be obedient to the golden rule. The Word will not be manifested in you if you have unforgiveness. Unforgiveness blocks so many things that God could give to you and opens up the door for so many more sins that will take over your life, so that the Word will not be manifested in you.   The Word is Jesus and He will not be manifested in you if you have unforgiveness. All of those other fruits of bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, railing, and malice will be manifested instead of the Word. It doesn't matter what God has promised you; they won't come to pass because God's promises are conditional upon repentance and faith.   (Col.3:16) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms [and] hymns [and] spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God. (17) And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. So whatever we do, we are to do it in Jesus' Name; in other words, as representing Him. The meaning for the Greek word for name is nature, character, and authority. To do everything in His name is to do it like He would; that's exactly the meaning of Colossians 3:17. If we would do what Jesus would do, then the Word would be manifested in us.   What is the nature of forgiveness? I believe what Jesus is doing is He is helping us to understand those circumstances in which we find ourselves most likely to fall into unforgiveness. Those circumstances aren't the big curses that we think they are. We need to understand that wicked people who come against us and tempt us to fall into unforgiveness or bitterness or judgment, are actually a blessing. They cleanse the body of leaven. We need to understand that the Lord is sovereign and no person can come into our life without God's grace. We need to understand what He says about them.  (Luk.6:22) Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you [from their company,] and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for Son of man's sake. Well, we certainly don't think that we're being blessed when people do such things, but from God's point of view, we are. We shouldn't be so near-sighted to see only the circumstance and not what God says about the circumstance behind the scenes because what is being worked in us is for eternity. (23) Rejoice in that day (We sure need to remind ourselves of this because the flesh just cries out, doesn't it?), and leap [for joy] for behold, your reward is great in heaven (Can you imagine? This obnoxious person who is accosting you is actually creating a reward for you in heaven!); for in the same manner did their fathers unto the prophets. (24) But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. (25) Woe unto you, ye that are full now! for ye shall hunger. Woe [unto you,] ye that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. (26) Woe [unto you,] when all men shall speak well of you! for in the same manner did their fathers to the false prophets. So we see that if these same wicked people speak well of us it is a woe to us.  Jesus said, “Woe ye that laugh now.” Yes, sometimes you weep, you mourn because of things that you go through at the hands of other people. But He said, “Woe ye that laugh now, for ye shall mourn and weep.” If we laugh at the judgment of others it is a woe to us. Things are going to be turned around. We are about to be treated badly by the world as a trial, but God says, “leap [for joy] for behold, your reward is great in heaven.” The reward that God is giving is not just a breath that He calls this life; the reward that God gives lasts forever and ever. If we could really understand what He's saying here and what is happening here, I believe we would leap for joy. God is true to His Word.   And now Jesus is going to tell you what it really is to be a forgiving person and what the fruit of being a forgiving person is. (Luk.6:27) But I say unto you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you. If you let bitterness or unforgiveness rise up in your heart, it's just not possible to obey this. (Luk.6:28) Bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you. (29) To him that smiteth thee on the [one] cheek offer also the other; and from him that taketh away thy cloak withhold not thy coat also. The only person who can do this is a forgiving person, a person who is not judging. They are being obedient to the Lord and they have His grace working in them. Of course, you don't have the grace to do these things if you're unforgiving because then God withholds His grace. He gives grace only to the humble. (Jas.4:6) But he giveth more grace. Wherefore [the scripture] saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. (Luk.6:30) Give to everyone that asketh thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.  Those with faction and witchcraft stole from us whenever there was an opportunity and we have never asked it back but God always repays it multiplied when we just give it. In other words, He doesn't want you to judge these people. He tells us, (1Co.5:12) For what have I to do with judging them that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within (meaning those within the Church)? In obedience to this, before the faction leave the Church in a rage we correct their slander, fornication, lies, lusting, etc. After they leave we have only judged them carefully when the Lord told us to. (13) But them that are without (outside of the Church or not in the Church) God judgeth. (Luk.6:31) And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.   Here again is that perfect law of liberty. Giving mercy when we want mercy, sowing the very seed that we need because each seed brings forth after its own kind. If you want mercy, you sow mercy; if you want forgiveness, you sow forgiveness, etc. God will bring it back to you. (Luk.6:32) And if ye love them that love you, what thank have ye? Oh, it's easy to love and forgive people who love and forgive you, but what about giving love and what He is telling us to do here. (Luk.6:32) And if ye love them that love you, what thank have ye? for even sinners love those that love them. There's no reward for us in loving those who are good to us. (33) And if ye do good to them that do good to you, what thank have ye? for even sinners do the same. True; even sinners do the same, so we have to be above that. We have to be able to do it even for the wicked and the unworthy, and God will give us grace to do this. It all comes by grace from God but we forsake our own grace if we are unforgiving.   (Luk.6:34) And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? even sinners lend to sinners, to receive again as much. (35) But love your enemies, and do [them] good, and lend, never despairing; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High: for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil. I know that you want to be a son of God, not just a child of God. The manifestation of sons is what the whole world is waiting to see. (Rom.8:19) For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. He's telling you here how to be a son.   If you don't want to do these things or if you give little esteem to these things that Jesus is saying, you forsake grace. And if you're unforgiving, then, of course, you won't have grace to do these things. And not only won't you have grace to do them, you won't want to do them. It will not be possible for you to do them. If we want to be sons of God, we have to be like His Son. And what did Jesus say? (Luk.23:34) Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. (35) But love your enemies, and do [them] good, and lend, never despairing; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High: for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil. (36) Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful. (37) And judge not, and ye shall not be judged: and condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned.   Be careful that if any judgment or any condemnation is coming through you, that it's coming from God and not from you. If you have any personal feelings, if you have personal bitterness or unforgiveness toward someone, then you're not neutral and God can't use you. He can't use you as a son, as He could use His Son, because His Son was truly forgiving. (Luk.6:37) And judge not, and ye shall not be judged: and condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: release, and ye shall be released. Jesus forgave the sinners but governmentally judged the judges. When you're holding people captive to their sins or, in other words, holding them accountable to their sins against you, it says to “release and ye shall be released.” (Luk.6:38) Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again. This is just so important for us to remember! However we give it out to others, however we sow it, that's what is going to come back to us.   We've seen how unforgiveness manifests itself in our thoughts and our actions. Forgiveness also manifests in our thoughts and our actions. Here's a good example: (Mat.5:38) Ye have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: (39) but I say unto you, Resist not him that is evil ... According to the Law, you were able to demand an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. You had the right to execute vengeance under the Law. But the Law could make nothing perfect, and God decided that He needed a better Covenant with better promises, so He gave us the New Covenant.  Paul in 1Co 5 told the Church to throw the fornicator and reviler out to save the Church because a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Now this is definitely talking about not resisting humans because we're told in (Jas.4:7) Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you. We are told to resist the devil and his demons but Matthew is talking about the person, the flesh and blood, with whom we are not supposed to fight. The elder must resist the wicked for the Church with governmental authority as we have seen. The angels go out to take down slander because it is an attempt to destroy souls and families with witchcraft.  Individually we fight against our real enemy, the principalities and the powers. (2Co.10:3) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh (4) (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds), (5) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.  (Mat.5:39) But I say unto you, Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. If you forgave a person immediately, as you should do, then you would be able to resist retaliation. If you overcome unforgiveness every time someone attacks you that's a good thing, and if you finally overcome it in your nature, you won't have any problem obeying what Jesus commanded here. The majority of the Church doesn't pay much attention to these Scriptures for they are self-crucifying. They would rather appease their flesh and retaliate in order to get out of this crucifixion to their flesh.   (Mat.5:40) And if any man would go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. That really comes against the flesh; we are really swimming upstream here to be obedient to Jesus. Unforgiveness is common. It's thought of as a worthy thing in the world but the Lord speaks very harshly against it. (Mat.5:41) And whosoever shall compel thee to go one mile, go with him two. This also really goes against the flesh. The flesh is prideful and doesn't want to do this; and God hates pride. Unforgiving people are prideful people because they think that they have the right to judge.   (Mat.5:42) Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. This is humiliating to the old man. (43) Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy: (44) but I say unto you, Love your enemies ... Of course, this is the total opposite of unforgiveness, judgment, bitterness, wrath and demanding your rights. (Mat.5:44) But I say unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; (45) that ye may be sons of your Father ... Look at how many times the Lord connects sonship with this kind of humility in our lives. He connects sonship with the kind of humility that doesn't judge, the kind of humility that forgives.   (45) That ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. We wonder why God doesn't judge certain people around us; we wonder because He is so longsuffering with the wicked and vessels of dishonor so the elect among them will be saved as in Romans 9.  But He needs and uses those vessels of dishonor to try us and crucify our flesh. (46) For if ye love them that love you, what reward have ye? …(48) Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.   Brethren, some of the worst of men can be saved, Paul and Peter were but Judas was not. Pray for your families that they forgive, repent, and be among the chosen. Here is something many leave out, God's will.  Rom 9:2-5 that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart.  3  For I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren's sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh: (He had great love and great faith but few were saved. Why?) 6  But it is not as though the word of God hath come to nought. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel: (The same is true of the recognized “Church”.) 7  neither, because they are Abraham's seed, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. (The chosen lineage among Abrahams children.) 8  That is, it is not the children of the flesh that are children of God; but the children of the promise are reckoned for a seed. (Only those who have faith in the promises.) 9  For this is a word of promise, According to this season will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. (A type of the promised seed of all nations. This was after God rejected Ishmael, a type of the rejected seed of all nations.) 10  And not only so; but Rebecca also having conceived by one, even by our father Isaac--  11  for the children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election (choosing) might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, (Only “many are called but few are chosen”.) 12  it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.  13  Even as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.  (Two types of world-wide people.) Many will argue with this but God says in 14  What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.  15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.  16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, (The choice is not man's but Gods. Religion doesn't count.) but of God that hath mercy. 17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, For this very purpose did I raise thee up, that I might show in thee my power, and that my name might be published abroad in all the earth.  18  So then he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will be hardeneth.  19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he still find fault? For who withstandeth his will?  20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus?  21  Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?  22  What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction:  23  and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory,  24  even us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles?  25  As he saith also in Hosea, I will call that my people, which was not my people; And her beloved, that was not beloved.  26  And it shall be, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, There shall they be called sons of the living God.  27  And Isaiah crieth concerning Israel, If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that shall be saved:  28  for the Lord will execute his word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short.  29  And, as Isaiah hath said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We had become as Sodom, and had been made like unto Gomorrah. 

Notes Matthew 10:24-39 Genesis 21:8-21 In this episode, we explore the challenging teachings of Jesus in Matthew 10, the story of Hagar in Genesis 21, and their implications for faith, family, and social justice. We also discuss the importance of context, interpretation, and standing with the marginalized. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the Pulpit Fiction Podcast 02:00 Weather and Climate Change Discussion 02:46 Pride Month and Community Engagement 07:11 Exploring the Gospel of Matthew 09:11 Understanding Jesus's Family Values 15:00 The Complexity of Jesus's Teachings 21:12 The Importance of Chosen Community 25:52 Navigating Family Dynamics and Faith 30:18 Exploring Genesis: The Story of Hagar and Ishmael 45:39 The Legacy of Hagar: Liberation and Marginalization

What happens when we stop trusting God's promises and start trying to take matters into our own hands? In Galatians 4:21–31, Paul points to Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Isaac, and Ishmael to show the difference between living by faith and living by human effort. This message explores how striving to earn God's approval only leads to slavery, while trusting in Christ brings true freedom. Through Jesus, we are not children of performance—we are children of promise. The Gospel reminds us that salvation isn't something we achieve; it's something God has already accomplished.

This guide covers the readings appointed in the Revised Common Lectionary for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 7), Year A, falling on June 21, 2026. We are well into the green season now — the long, ordinary stretch of Sundays during which the church listens, week by week, to the long witness of Scripture.This Sunday's readings are not gentle. The Gospel continues last week's account of Jesus sending out the Twelve, but where last week was the calling, this week names the cost. Jesus tells the disciples three times not to be afraid, then warns them that the message will divide families, that they will be hated, and that those who try to hold on to their lives will lose them. The Old Testament tracks each offer their own difficult companion. Track One follows Hagar and her son into the wilderness after they are cast out at Sarah's demand — one of the most painful scenes in Genesis. Track Two gives us Jeremiah's famous lament, in which the prophet accuses God of having tricked him into a vocation that has cost him everything. The Epistle, from Romans 6, sets the baptized at the heart of this difficulty: we have died with Christ, and so what could ordinarily destroy us no longer has the final word.This is a Sunday that asks the preacher for both courage and tenderness. The Gospel in particular has been used in some of the most damaging ways in the church's history — to justify family estrangement, to coerce loyalty, to bless suffering that people did not choose. The guide names those misuses plainly in the cautions, because the texts will preach better when their misuses are named than when those misuses are left to lurk.The ReadingsGenesis 21:8–21First Reading (Track One) — Hagar and Ishmael in the WildernessSummaryThe day Isaac is weaned, Abraham throws a great feast. Sarah looks across the celebration and sees Ishmael — the son Hagar bore to Abraham years earlier — and something hardens in her. She tells Abraham to send Hagar and the boy away, so that Ishmael will not inherit alongside Isaac. The text says the matter is very distressing to Abraham, but God tells him to do as Sarah says, with the promise that God will also make a nation of Ishmael. The next morning Abraham sends Hagar out with bread, a skin of water, and the boy. The water runs out in the wilderness. Hagar puts the child under a bush so she will not have to watch him die, and she lifts up her voice and weeps. God hears the boy's voice. An angel speaks to Hagar — do not be afraid, God has heard him where he is. God opens her eyes, and she sees a well that was there all along. The boy grows up in the wilderness and becomes the ancestor of a great nation.Key Ideas for Preaching* The text says God heard the voice of the boy — and the name Ishmael means “God hears.” The story is its own argument: there is no one whose voice God does not hear, including the ones the official story has cast out. Where does your congregation tend to assume that some voices reach God and others do not, and how might Ishmael's name interrupt that assumption?* Hagar does not see the well until God opens her eyes. The water was already there. What might it mean for your people that the help they have been pleading for may already be present, waiting to be seen rather than waiting to be made?* God's promise expands rather than narrows. Isaac receives the promise, and Ishmael will also become a great nation. The text refuses to make this an either/or. Where in your congregation has the assumption taken hold that God's blessing is a finite resource — that someone else's portion must come out of ours?* The story sits uncomfortably with us, and it should. There is real cruelty here, and real grief. What might it look like to preach this scene without rushing toward a moral, letting your people sit with the painful complexity of a family text that does not resolve neatly?Significant Cautions* Hagar's story has been used in the church to claim that one religious people has displaced another — most painfully in claims that Christianity has replaced Judaism, or that the Arab descendants of Ishmael are outside God's care. The text itself refuses this reading. God's blessing extends to both lines.* Sarah's demand and Abraham's quick compliance are easy to moralize — to make Sarah a villain or Abraham a coward. The text is more honest than that. They are real, flawed people inside a real, flawed family system, and the story does not ask us to pick sides among them.* The line that God told Abraham to listen to Sarah has sometimes been used in troubling ways. Read in context, it is God's particular guidance about this particular moment — not a general endorsement of any voice that arrives within a family.* This is a Genesis story that Muslims also hold as sacred — Ishmael is the ancestor of the Arab peoples, and the well in this text is foundational to Islam. Be particularly careful with any language that would imply Christians have an exclusive claim on the material.Hagar and Ishmael in the Desert by Christoffer Wilhelm EckersbergPsalm 86:1–10, 16–17The Psalm (Track One) — Incline Your Ear, O LordSummaryThis is a psalm of supplication from someone in deep need. “Incline your ear, O Lord,” it begins; “I am poor and needy.” The psalmist names God's character — good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love — and pleads for an answer. The middle of the psalm widens the view: God is unique among all the gods of the nations, the maker of all peoples, the one to whom every people will one day come. The selected verses close with another plea: turn to me, give me strength, save me, show me a sign of your favor.Key Ideas for Preaching* The psalmist names himself “poor and needy” — and names it to God, not hides it. What does it look like for your congregation to bring their actual need to God without first trying to dress it up?* The psalm holds together a private cry and a cosmic vision. In the same breath the psalmist asks God to listen to him and reminds himself that all the nations will one day come and bow down. How might your sermon hold those two together — the intimate and the vast — without flattening either?* The plea is grounded in who God is, not in who the psalmist is. God is good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love. Where in your congregation has prayer started to feel like throwing words into a void, and how might naming who God is steady that?Significant Cautions* The psalmist asks God to act so that “those who hate me may be put to shame.” That is honest prayer, but it can also become a weapon. Be careful about preaching this verse in a way that licenses contempt for those we disagree with.* “I am devoted to you” can be heard as the psalmist claiming exceptional faithfulness. Read in the context of the whole psalm, it is relationship language, not a boast about merit.Jeremiah 20:7–13First Reading (Track Two) — A Fire Shut Up in My BonesSummaryJeremiah turns to God in something close to anger. You have tricked me, he accuses; you have overpowered me. He has become a laughingstock. Everyone mocks him; his message of judgment has cost him friends and reputation. He has tried to keep silent — but the word of God, he says, is like a fire shut up in his bones, and he cannot hold it in. Even his closest acquaintances are watching for him to stumble. And then, in the middle of the lament, the tone turns. He remembers that God is on his side, that the Lord is with him like a dread warrior. He calls on the assembly to sing to the Lord. The lament does not erase itself, but it ends — for now — in praise.Key Ideas for Preaching* Jeremiah accuses God of trickery and gets away with it. The text does not punish him for the accusation; it preserves it as Scripture. What might it mean for your congregation to hear that even rage toward God can be a faithful prayer?* The word inside Jeremiah is “like a fire shut up in my bones.” He cannot keep it in even when keeping it in would be easier. Where in your congregation is there a truth that needs to come out, and what is it costing your people to hold it in?* The lament ends in praise — not because the problem has been solved, but because Jeremiah remembers who is with him. What does it look like for your people to praise from inside a difficulty that has not yet resolved?Significant Cautions* Jeremiah's lament can be used to suggest that faithful people quickly arrive at peace and praise after suffering. The turn is real in this passage, but it is not automatic, and the rest of Jeremiah's life is not exactly peaceful. Do not rush a lament toward resolution.* “There is something like a burning fire in my bones” has sometimes been used to pressure people into evangelism, as if a faithful Christian must always feel compelled to proclaim. Jeremiah's compulsion is the experience of a particular prophet under particular circumstances, not a universal test of faithfulness.Psalm 69:7–10, (11–15), 16–18The Psalm (Track Two) — A Stranger to My KindredSummaryA lament from someone who has been alienated by their devotion to God. It is for your sake, the psalmist says, that I have borne reproach — I have become a stranger to my kindred. Zeal for God's house has consumed him. He is mocked in the streets; even drunkards make him the subject of their songs. The psalm pleads with God to draw near, to answer, to redeem him from the muck. The selected verses close with an urgent appeal: do not hide your face from me; come near and redeem me.Key Ideas for Preaching* The psalmist's faithfulness has cost him relationships — even with his own family. This pairs powerfully with the Gospel's hard language about division. What does your congregation know about the real cost of taking faith seriously, and how might this psalm give them words for it?* The image of being stuck in the mire, where there is no foothold, is one of the most physical pictures in the psalms. It is not abstract theology; it is what real trouble feels like in the body. How might your sermon let the body of the psalm meet the bodies of your people?* The psalmist does not pretend to be patient. “Do not hide your face from me” is urgent, almost demanding. What might it free in your people to hear that urgent prayer is faithful prayer?Significant Cautions* The psalm has been used to claim a kind of spiritual martyrdom for ordinary discomfort — to dramatize mild inconvenience as suffering for the gospel. The cost the psalmist describes is real. Be careful applying his words to a much smaller scale.* Some verses near these (not included in the reading) contain sharp curses against the psalmist's enemies. The lectionary leaves them out for a reason. If you reach for them, handle them with care.Romans 6:1b–11The Epistle — Buried with Him by BaptismSummaryPaul has just argued in Romans 5 that grace abounds where sin abounds. He hears the objection coming: shall we then sin all the more, so that grace can abound all the more? Absolutely not, he says. And the picture he gives in answer is baptism. To be baptized into Christ is to be baptized into his death — buried with him so that we might also walk into a new kind of life. The old self has been crucified with him. The pull of the old life no longer has the final word. Christ, having been raised, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. And so, Paul says, we are to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.Key Ideas for Preaching* Paul defines baptism not as a religious rite added on top of a person's life but as a death and a resurrection. The old self has been crucified. The new life is something already begun. How might it shift your congregation's sense of baptism — their own, and any they are about to celebrate — to hear it described in these terms?* “Death no longer has dominion over him” — and so, by extension, over us. This is the same Romans 6 that ties directly to today's Gospel, where Jesus tells the disciples not to fear those who can kill the body. The two readings are saying the same thing in different keys. What changes in your people when the deepest threats lose their final authority?* Paul tells us to “consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God.” That is not a description of how it feels; it is a posture, a reckoning, a choosing to remember what is true even when experience suggests otherwise. Where in your congregation might this practice of remembering provide more steadiness than trying to feel a particular way?Significant Cautions* “Dead to sin” has sometimes been read as the claim that Christians no longer struggle. Paul is not saying that — he goes on in chapter 7 to describe at length the ongoing struggle. He is describing an orientation, not a finished condition. Say so plainly.* The language of being “crucified with Christ” can be used to romanticize suffering, or to suggest that hardship is the proof of faith. Paul's image is about baptismal identity, not a measuring stick for who is suffering enough.* “Walking in newness of life” can be flattened into self-improvement language. Paul's vision is much larger — a whole new sphere of life in which the powers that used to determine us no longer have the final say.Matthew 10:24–39The Gospel — Do Not Be AfraidSummaryThe sending discourse continues, and Jesus turns to the cost. He warns the disciples that they will be treated as he is treated — if people call the master of the house Beelzebul, his household should expect worse. Three times he tells them not to be afraid. Do not fear those who can kill only the body; fear instead the one who has authority over both body and soul. Do not be afraid: even the sparrows are not forgotten, and you are worth more than many sparrows. Acknowledge me before others, Jesus says, and I will acknowledge you before my Father. And then the hardest verses: do not think I came to bring peace; I came to bring a sword. Loyalty to me will cause division — even within families. Whoever loves family more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up the cross is not worthy of me. Those who try to hold on to their life will lose it. Those who lose their life for my sake will find it.Key Ideas for Preaching* The phrase “do not be afraid” appears three times in this passage. It is the constant beneath everything else. The hard language about division and loss is held inside that frame. What would it look like for your sermon to make the “do not fear” as loud as the difficult verses around it?* Jesus uses sparrows — the cheapest birds at the market — to make a point about God's attention. Not one of them falls without God noticing; and you are worth more. How might this small, almost throwaway image be exactly the picture your congregation needs of a God whose attention reaches the least-counted parts of their lives?* The “sword” Jesus brings is not his intention but his effect. He is naming a social reality: following him will not be welcome everywhere, even in some families. He is preparing his disciples for that, not endorsing the division. How might your sermon help your people tell the difference between division that follows costly faithfulness and division that follows from cruelty or stubbornness?* “Take up the cross” was, in the first century, the specific image of a condemned prisoner carrying the crossbeam of their execution. It was a death-march image, not a metaphor for ordinary hardship. What is your congregation actually being asked to die to for the sake of Jesus, and how can you name it without trivializing the image?* “Those who lose their life for my sake will find it” is one of the central paradoxes of the Gospels. It is not a license for self-destruction; it is the strange truth that the life that tries to protect itself shrinks, and the life that is given for something larger grows. Where in your people's lives is a small, protected life keeping them from a larger, given one?Significant Cautions* “Do not fear those who kill the body” has sometimes been used to pressure people toward martyrdom or to invalidate ordinary fear. Jesus is not condemning fear; he is steadying people facing genuine threat. Don't use this verse to shame the afraid.* The verse about fearing the one who can destroy both body and soul is genuinely difficult, and many faithful readers have understood the subject of that verse differently. Be cautious about turning it into a casual threat. The weight of the passage is not on the warning; it is on the comfort that immediately follows.* “I came not to bring peace but a sword” has been used in some of the most damaging ways imaginable — to justify religious violence, to bless the cutting off of LGBTQ+ family members, and to license abusive religious leaders demanding total loyalty. Be especially clear: Jesus is naming a social effect, not endorsing harm to anyone.* “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” has been weaponized by spiritually abusive systems to demand that members cut off family. The wider witness of Scripture — including Jesus' own care for his mother from the cross, and the command to honor parents — flatly contradicts that use.* “Take up the cross” should not be applied to suffering that people did not freely choose — illness, abuse, poverty, grief. Such suffering is not their cross to bear, and calling it that has been used to silence people who needed to be heard.* “Lose your life to find it” should never be used to validate self-harm, the staying in dangerous situations, or the spending of oneself in service of leaders or institutions that demand it. Jesus is talking about the freedom of the gospel, not about self-destruction.Thematic ConnectionsBoth tracks open onto the same difficult Gospel, and both offer it different company.Track One brings Hagar's wilderness story. A woman and her son have been cast out — by the official story, by the family that should have held them. The water runs out. The mother cannot bear to watch the child die. And God hears. The story does not solve what Sarah has done; it does not undo the cruelty. But it insists that no voice is unheard, no person is forgotten, and that the help God provides may already be present, waiting to be seen. Paired with the Gospel's “do not fear” and the sparrow image, the message is the same in two keys: God's attention reaches the ones the world has overlooked.Track Two brings Jeremiah's lament and Psalm 69's cry of alienation. Both texts give voice to the cost of faithfulness — the rejection, the social isolation, the impossibility of keeping silent. Read alongside the Gospel, they put words in the mouths of disciples for whom following has cost something. The whole day, on this track, gives a congregation permission to be honest about how hard faithfulness has been, and a promise that the honesty is itself a form of prayer.Romans 6 anchors both tracks in baptismal identity. Whatever the world's hostility can do, the worst of it has already lost its dominion. Christ has gone down into death and come back out the other side, and the baptized have gone with him.The Gospel is the natural preaching center either way, and it asks particular courage from the preacher. These texts have been weaponized; the cautions in this guide are not theoretical. But the heart of the passage is the threefold “do not be afraid” and the small, almost tossed-off promise about the sparrows. A sermon that lets those quieter verses set the temperature, while taking the harder verses seriously and naming their misuses plainly, will land more honestly than one that either avoids the difficulty or leans into it as something to admire.For preachers following the recent series: this is the third Sunday in the Matthew 10 arc. Two weeks ago, Jesus called Matthew from his table. Last week, he sent the twelve out with empty hands and the compassion of the Lord of the harvest. This week, he is honest with them about what the sending will cost. The shape is now complete: found, sent, warned. Next week, the lectionary begins to move into the parables of the kingdom. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lectionarypro.substack.com/subscribe

CREDITS OOH CHILD Lyrics: Stan Vincent Arrangement: Hall & Oates   MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE Lyrics: Bob Dylan Arrangement: Adele   ON STAGE Xan DuBose Ensley (vocals) Ayush Joshi (keys) Sean Thomson (guitar) Rev. Gail Henderson-Belsito (lots of talking) Charles Weathers (talking)   SERMON AUDIO IS AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING THROUGH THE WEBSITE AND AS A PODCAST THROUGH ITUNES AND PODBEAN.   ALL SCRIPTURE QUOTED FROM THE NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION OF THE BIBLE ©1989 BY THE NATIONAL COUNCILCHURCHES OF CHRIST. MUSIC COVERED UNDER THE LICENSE CCS#11209.  

What if the book of Genesis is not only the story of humanity's first family, but also the story of God learning how to parent? In this episode, Rabbi Marc Katz sits down with Stephen Spector to discuss his book God and the First Families: Parenting, Trauma, and Healing in the Book of Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 2026), a provocative reexamination of the Bible's foundational stories through the lens of parenting. Drawing on both biblical interpretation and contemporary psychology, Spector explores how God's relationship with the patriarchs and matriarchs evolves throughout Genesis. God begins as a demanding authority figure, shifts toward a more nurturing presence, returns briefly to authoritarianism in the binding of Isaac, and ultimately develops a style focused on fostering moral and emotional growth. Remarkably, Spector argues, Genesis anticipates parenting insights that psychologists would not articulate for thousands of years. Along the way, familiar stories take on new meaning. Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers—each narrative becomes a window into questions of favoritism, resilience, forgiveness, family conflict, and healing after trauma. By reading Genesis as a story about parenting and human development, Spector uncovers enduring wisdom about how families flourish, fracture, and find their way back to one another. Together, Spector and Katz explore what the Bible can teach about raising children, repairing relationships, and understanding the complex bond between love, authority, and growth. Stephen Spector is a professor of English emeritus at Stony Brook University. He is the author of Operation Solomon: The Daring Rescue of the Ethiopian Jews and Evangelicals and Israel: The Story of American Christian Zionism, among other volumes. Spector has taught the Bible to undergraduate and graduate students for fifty years. He has been a visiting scholar at Hebrew University and a senior research fellow at the National Humanities Center and the Wesleyan Center for Humanities.  Rabbi Marc Katz is the senior rabbi at Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield, New Jersey. He is the author of The Heart of Loneliness: How Jewish Wisdom Can Help You Cope and Find Comfort, a National Jewish Book Award finalist and Yochanan's Gamble: Judaism's Pragmatic Approach to Life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

What if the book of Genesis is not only the story of humanity's first family, but also the story of God learning how to parent? In this episode, Rabbi Marc Katz sits down with Stephen Spector to discuss his book God and the First Families: Parenting, Trauma, and Healing in the Book of Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 2026), a provocative reexamination of the Bible's foundational stories through the lens of parenting. Drawing on both biblical interpretation and contemporary psychology, Spector explores how God's relationship with the patriarchs and matriarchs evolves throughout Genesis. God begins as a demanding authority figure, shifts toward a more nurturing presence, returns briefly to authoritarianism in the binding of Isaac, and ultimately develops a style focused on fostering moral and emotional growth. Remarkably, Spector argues, Genesis anticipates parenting insights that psychologists would not articulate for thousands of years. Along the way, familiar stories take on new meaning. Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers—each narrative becomes a window into questions of favoritism, resilience, forgiveness, family conflict, and healing after trauma. By reading Genesis as a story about parenting and human development, Spector uncovers enduring wisdom about how families flourish, fracture, and find their way back to one another. Together, Spector and Katz explore what the Bible can teach about raising children, repairing relationships, and understanding the complex bond between love, authority, and growth. Stephen Spector is a professor of English emeritus at Stony Brook University. He is the author of Operation Solomon: The Daring Rescue of the Ethiopian Jews and Evangelicals and Israel: The Story of American Christian Zionism, among other volumes. Spector has taught the Bible to undergraduate and graduate students for fifty years. He has been a visiting scholar at Hebrew University and a senior research fellow at the National Humanities Center and the Wesleyan Center for Humanities.  Rabbi Marc Katz is the senior rabbi at Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield, New Jersey. He is the author of The Heart of Loneliness: How Jewish Wisdom Can Help You Cope and Find Comfort, a National Jewish Book Award finalist and Yochanan's Gamble: Judaism's Pragmatic Approach to Life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies

What if the book of Genesis is not only the story of humanity's first family, but also the story of God learning how to parent? In this episode, Rabbi Marc Katz sits down with Stephen Spector to discuss his book God and the First Families: Parenting, Trauma, and Healing in the Book of Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 2026), a provocative reexamination of the Bible's foundational stories through the lens of parenting. Drawing on both biblical interpretation and contemporary psychology, Spector explores how God's relationship with the patriarchs and matriarchs evolves throughout Genesis. God begins as a demanding authority figure, shifts toward a more nurturing presence, returns briefly to authoritarianism in the binding of Isaac, and ultimately develops a style focused on fostering moral and emotional growth. Remarkably, Spector argues, Genesis anticipates parenting insights that psychologists would not articulate for thousands of years. Along the way, familiar stories take on new meaning. Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers—each narrative becomes a window into questions of favoritism, resilience, forgiveness, family conflict, and healing after trauma. By reading Genesis as a story about parenting and human development, Spector uncovers enduring wisdom about how families flourish, fracture, and find their way back to one another. Together, Spector and Katz explore what the Bible can teach about raising children, repairing relationships, and understanding the complex bond between love, authority, and growth. Stephen Spector is a professor of English emeritus at Stony Brook University. He is the author of Operation Solomon: The Daring Rescue of the Ethiopian Jews and Evangelicals and Israel: The Story of American Christian Zionism, among other volumes. Spector has taught the Bible to undergraduate and graduate students for fifty years. He has been a visiting scholar at Hebrew University and a senior research fellow at the National Humanities Center and the Wesleyan Center for Humanities.  Rabbi Marc Katz is the senior rabbi at Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield, New Jersey. He is the author of The Heart of Loneliness: How Jewish Wisdom Can Help You Cope and Find Comfort, a National Jewish Book Award finalist and Yochanan's Gamble: Judaism's Pragmatic Approach to Life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biblical-studies

After the birth of Isaac, we would expect the story's emphasis to shift to the promised son. However, that's not what we see at all. Join Jay and George for today's Text-Driven Tuesday as they look at Genesis 21:8-21 and see how a story about Ishmael's “laughing” applies to us today. On today's Text-Driven Tuesday, we see that in Genesis 21:1-7, the promised son has finally arrived! But is he the main focus of this passage? Or is there something more to the text? Join the conversation as Jay and George look at four key words in Genesis 21, and what they tell us about God and the promised son. Conformed to Christ aims to engage the mind, affect the heart, and call people to follow Christ. Additionally, our aim is to introduce and explain passages of Scripture and difficult theological doctrines in a down-to-earth and easy-to-grasp manner. Theology and the Bible should impact your life, and our goal is that we might play a small part in seeing that happen. Conformed to Christ is a ministry of Christ's Fellowship Church. https://cfclawton.org/ ***Be sure to subscribe on YouTube, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, and Amazon Music Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCgQBeT-Mj1CmngPdhZyWybQ iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conformed-to-christ/id1503247486 Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2NvbmZvcm1lZHRvY2hyaXN0L2ZlZWQueG1s Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5YruCZu4hla6Ll3rBu7UPY

In Genesis 25:12-34, we explore the story of Ishmael, Jacob, and Esau and discover the danger of trading eternal things for temporary satisfaction. Esau gave up his birthright for a single meal, revealing a truth that still challenges us today: what do we value most?Join us as we examine how our desires shape our lives, why worldly success can still leave us empty, and how Christ calls us to live for what truly matters.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TIKTOK⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YOUTUBE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠WEBSITE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Pastor Jim explores the birth of Isaac as a testament to God's perfect faithfulness, timing, and grace. He emphasizes that despite the human impatience and sinful "Plan B" strategies of Abraham and Sarah, God remained committed to his original promise. He highlights the painful, yet loving pruning required when human mistakes create messy consequences, specifically regarding the casting out of Hagar and Ishmael. Ultimately, he illustrates how these Old Testament events serve as a theological foundation for the New Testament, pointing toward the miraculous arrival of Jesus. Pastor Jim concludes that believers are saved not by their own merit or performance, but through unmerited grace and faith in God's promises.Support the showThanks for listening! Follow us on Facebook or Instagram more info colonialkc.org

Fr. Xavier Sanjivi, C.Ss.R., presents a reflective session on the patriarch Abraham, focusing on his spiritual journey and the lessons it offers for modern believers.Key themes include:The Call of Abraham: The transition from Ur of the Chaldeans to the land of Canaan.Faith and Fragility: Exploring how Abraham's journey was marked by both profound trust in God and moments of human error, such as his decisions during the famine in Egypt and the birth of Ishmael.Lessons in Stewardship and Trust: Understanding the importance of patience, returning to God through prayer, and viewing wealth as a tool for blessing rather than a cause of conflict.The session emphasizes that God calls ordinary people and sustains them through their trials, reminding viewers that faith is often a "leap in the dark" guided by divine promise.

Paul opens this chapter with a dramatic expression of grief, like Moses before him, saying he would forfeit his own salvation if it meant his fellow Israelites would be saved. That alone should tell you how personal this gets. God chose Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, and showed mercy to whom He would show mercy. The potter has authority over the clay, and that offends us because we want God to explain Himself. Yet, God demonstrates time and again that he is not only sovereign, but compassionate and merciful toward all people—Jew and Gentile.  The Rev. Doug Griebenaw, pastor and mission advocate at KFUO Radio, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Romans 9:1–33.  Why does doing the right thing sometimes feel impossible? Why do feelings of guilt follow us even when we've been forgiven? These aren't new questions. St. Paul wrote his letter to the Romans for a church he had never visited, and yet he addressed the struggles every Christian knows firsthand: the weight of the law, the persistence of sin, the sufficiency of what God has done in Christ. Romans covers enormous ground. Paul moves from the universal problem of sin through justification by faith, the role of baptism, the war between flesh and spirit, God's faithfulness to Israel, and the shape of life together in the body of Christ. There's a reason the Reformation was born in this letter. Join us on Thy Strong Word as we open up Romans, weekdays at 11am or on-demand anytime, at KFUO.org.  Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God's Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: thystrongword@kfuo.org.

What does it mean to take up the cross in a world that rewards safety and silence? Matt Skinner, Karoline Lewis, and Cody Sanders dig into the lectionary texts for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (June 22, 2026), exploring the missionary discourse in Matthew 10, the prophet Jeremiah's anguished vocation, the casting out of Hagar and Ishmael in Genesis 21, Psalm 69's theology of complaint, and the "with Christ" language of Romans 6.The conversation wrestles with fear as a communal emotion, the two historical horizons behind Matthew's hard sayings, what it means that God makes a covenant with Ishmael, and how baptism in Romans 6 plants us together with Christ in a death like his. Along the way: a remarkable story of Danish Christians defying Nazi deportations, a reframing of judgment as being seen rather than punished, and honest reflection on what prophetic courage and prophetic silence have each cost the church.

Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore.2 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.3 Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.4 Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it.5 Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they sware.6 Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.7 And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem;8 And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.10 And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel.11 Now therefore make confession unto the Lord God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives.12 Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said, so must we do.13 But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing.14 Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us.15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah were employed about this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.16 And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by their names, were separated, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.17 And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month.18 And among the sons of the priests there were found that had taken strange wives: namely, of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren; Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.19 And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass.20 And of the sons of Immer; Hanani, and Zebadiah.21 And of the sons of Harim; Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah.22 And of the sons of Pashur; Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethaneel, Jozabad, and Elasah.23 Also of the Levites; Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah, (the same is Kelita,) Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.24 Of the singers also; Eliashib: and of the porters; Shallum, and Telem, and Uri.25 Moreover of Israel: of the sons of Parosh; Ramiah, and Jeziah, and Malchiah, and Miamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah.26 And of the sons of Elam; Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Eliah.27 And of the sons of Zattu; Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza.28 Of the sons also of Bebai; Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai.29 And of the sons of Bani; Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, and Ramoth.30 And of the sons of Pahathmoab; Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezaleel, and Binnui, and Manasseh.31 And of the sons of Harim; Eliezer, Ishijah, Malchiah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,32 Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.33 Of the sons of Hashum; Mattenai, Mattathah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei.34 Of the sons of Bani; Maadai, Amram, and Uel,35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Chelluh,36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasau,38 And Bani, and Binnui, Shimei,39 And Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah,40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,41 Azareel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah,42 Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph.43 Of the sons of Nebo; Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jadau, and Joel, Benaiah.44 All these had taken strange wives: and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

Welcome to episode 249 of Grasp the Bible. In this episode, we will examine the topic of the God who sees the overlooked.  Key takeaways:   God does not wait for the worthy to come to Him. He pursues the fleeing. Hagar was running from something with no plan for where to go, and God ran toward her. Divine questions are rarely for God's information. “Where have you come from and where are you going?” was an invitation for Hagar to face her situation honestly and receive a way forward. God names the suffering before He names the promise. He acknowledged Hagar's affliction before He spoke of her future. He does not skip over pain to get to blessing. The name Ishmael means “God hears.” Every time Hagar spoke her son's name she rehearsed the testimony that her cry had been heard. God builds memorials of grace into ordinary life. The invisible suffering of the powerless is fully visible to God. What happens behind closed doors with no witnesses is not hidden from El Roi. He is keeping account. Hagar is the only person in all of Scripture to give God a name. This honor was not given to Abraham, Moses, or David — it was given to a foreign slave woman. God's deepest revelations often come to the least expected people. God's pattern throughout Scripture is consistent: He reveals Himself to shepherds, fishermen, a murderer, an adulteress, a teenager. In His kingdom, the last are precisely the ones He seeks first.  Quotable:   You're not too marginalized, too broken, or too insignificant for His attention. The same God who left heaven to find a runaway slave in the wilderness is the God who sees you completely — right now, exactly where you are.  Application:   If you are running from pain without a destination — recognize that God is not trying to drag you back to what hurt you. He pursues the fleeing not to condemn their escape but to redirect their steps. Bring Him your honest answer to the question He asked Hagar: Where are you going?  If you are suffering in silence — your unseen struggles are fully visible to God. Chronic pain no one asks about. Financial stress you hide. Grief you carry alone. Caregiving exhaustion you never talk about. El Roi is not indifferent to what no one else can see. He is witnessing every moment and keeping account.  If you feel marginalized — by age, economics, health, race, or social standing — you are precisely the kind of person God loves to encounter. Do not let your circumstances make you doubt your worth to Him. He does not reserve His presence for the powerful and prominent.  Build your own memorial — Hagar named the well Beer-lahai-roi so the encounter would not be forgotten. When God meets you in a wilderness moment, write it down. Name it. Return to it. Let it become the evidence you rehearse when the next hard season comes.  Connect with us:   Website:  https://springbaptist.org  Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/SBCKleinCampus (Klein Campus) https://www.facebook.com/SpringBaptist (Spring Campus)  Need us to pray for you? Submit your prayer request to https://springbaptist.org/prayer/  If you haven't already done so, please leave us a rating and review in your podcast provider. 

Pastor Olubi Johnson continues a series on the faith and patience of the patriarchs, focusing on Abraham and Sarah. The episode explores obedience without full understanding, the danger of impatience (Ishmael vs. Isaac), seasons of divine silence, and how faith combined with patience leads to God's fulfillment of His promises.

Pastor Olubi Johnson continues a series on the faith and patience of the patriarchs, focusing on Abraham and Sarah. The episode explores obedience without full understanding, the danger of impatience (Ishmael vs. Isaac), seasons of divine silence, and how faith combined with patience leads to God's fulfillment of His promises.

Hey ya'll welcome to the podcast and thanks for joining us. We are continuing on in our series through the faith hero's in Hebrews 11. We are still on Abraham, Bro. Dean starts in Genesis chapter 15 taking us to chapter 21. Covering the 2nd phase of God's promise to Abraham. Also covering the family drama we see between Haggar and Sara. The casting out of Ishmael and Haggar. lots of great lessons learned in this episode. Get your bible and notes ready!We pray this episode is a blessing to you and you are elevated in the word!

Always On Time" I. Introduction: Defining "On Time" Human vs. Divine Timeline: We all view time differently (e.g., being hours early like Pastor Rhonda's father, pulling in at the last exact minute, or having a "when I get there, I get there" attitude). The Mismatched Watch: Pastor Rhonda shares a story of her father getting anxious about being late, only to realize his watch was still set to a different time zone. We often get aggravated or anxious with God simply because we are looking at our own clock instead of His. Core Truth: God does not operate on our timeline or synchronize His eternal watch with ours. His delays are deliberate, purposeful, and designed to bring Him glory. II. Point 1: The Danger of Rushing God The only thing worse than waiting on God is wishing you had waited on Him. Scriptural Warnings of Impatience: King Saul: Took matters into his own hands and offered an unauthorized sacrifice because his men were scattering and the prophet Samuel was delayed. As a result, the kingdom was torn from him. Abraham and Sarah: Attempted to force God's promise of a child by involving Hagar, resulting in the birth of Ishmael and generational warfare. The Counter-Culture of God's Delays: Even when humanity makes mistakes or tries to rush the process, God is powerful enough to rewrite the story (e.g., the massive revivals occurring today among the descendants of Ishmael in places like Iran). III. Point 2: The Nature of the Waiting Room What is "Waiting"?: In Isaiah 43, the Hebrew word for waiting (qavah) means to be tightly woven together like cords. The Principle: True waiting means binding your heart to the Lord, not to the outcome or the specific thing you are asking for. The Reality of Turbulence: Life brings unexpected turbulence, much like a bumpy flight 30,000 feet in the air. When God chooses not to immediately stop the turbulence, He provides the necessary grace to walk through it. God's Arrangement: In Ecclesiastes, "beautiful in its time" translates from a root meaning arranged, precise, orderly, and fitting. God is intricately preparing the circumstances to display His glory perfectly. IV. Point 3: He Reaches Down and Lifts Us Up An Eyewitness to Deliverance: Our survival through past trials isn't luck, coincidence, or superstition—it is a direct testimony of God doing what only He can do. The Ultimate "Reach": God bridges the massive gap between His absolute holiness and our deep hopelessness. Calvary was the ultimate extension of God reaching down to humanity. Deep Waters: Deep waters represent situations heavier and stronger than we are—depression, grief, financial crisis, or broken relationships. Even David, the mighty warrior who killed Goliath, had to admit when an enemy was too strong for him. The Parent Metaphor: Just as a parent jumps fully clothed into a pool to rescue a drowning child without a second thought, God moves urgently into our deep waters to rescue us and place us in a "spacious place" of freedom. V. Point 4: Walking Through the Fire The Purpose of the Furnace: Fiery trials are not strange occurrences; they are vehicles to burn off the "fake" attributes (like pride or addiction) and solidify genuine, veteran faith. Identity in the Fire: When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the furnace, the Babylonian king tried to change their identities by renaming them. However, Christ walked into the fire with them, burning away only their bindings. The Hebrew Meanings of the Three Hebrews: Hananiah (Shadrach): "Yahweh has been gracious." Mishael (Meshach): "Who is like our God?" Azariah (Abednego): "Yahweh has helped." The Fire's Expiration Date: Every trial has a limit. The world cannot alter your identity as a son or daughter of God, and you will come out of the fire not even smelling like smoke. VI. Conclusion: God Rescues Because He Delights in You Relentless Delight: God doesn't love or rescue us out of obligation or because we performed perfectly this week. He is overwhelmed with delight for His children because of Jesus Christ. The Final Declaration: God is worth waiting for. From Joseph to Esther, to the arrival of Jesus in the fullness of time, He has proven that He is an all-time God who cannot fail. Scripture Index Here are the key verses read, cited, or closely paraphrased throughout the service: Psalm 18:1-3 > "I will love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised..." Psalm 126:1-5 > "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like those that dreamed. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing... They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." 1 Samuel 13 (Referenced) – The account of King Saul prematurely offering the sacrifice and Samuel declaring the kingdom torn away. Genesis 16 (Referenced) – Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, and the birth of Ishmael. Isaiah 40:31 (Referenced) – Waiting (qavah) on the Lord to renew strength and mount up with wings like eagles. Ecclesiastes 3:11 > "He has made everything beautiful in its time." Romans 8:38-39 (Paraphrased) – The conviction that no principalities, powers, height, or depth can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Isaiah 43:1-3 > "...Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior."   1 Peter 4:12 > "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you."   1 Peter 1:6-7 (Paraphrased) – Gold perishes, but a refined faith brings praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Daniel 3 (Referenced) – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace with the fourth man who looked like the Son of God. Numbers 6:24-26 (The Benediction) > "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." "Thanks for listening! For more information, visit churchoftheharvest.com. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and YouTube @cothcleveland.

April 25, 2026 - Equipped 2026 - Day 3 - 2:30 PM Session In this fast-paced teaching session (a leadership/preacher track) Allen surveys 15 characters from Genesis that are referenced in the epistles of the New Testament, explaining how each person points to major theological themes and offering practical sermon ideas. The episode situates the study within a broader Bible overview (the 5.12 Old Testament / 4.1.21.1 New Testament schema) and emphasizes selecting 3–4 memorable lessons to personalize and preach. Key characters examined include Adam and Eve (human failure and divine redemption; the first and second Adam contrast in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15); Cain and Abel (faithful worship vs. false religion; anger and violence); Enoch (walking with God and being taken by God; Hebrews 11, Jude); Noah (obedient faith, separation from the world, and baptism typology in 1 Peter 3); Lot (worldliness and maintaining faith amid compromise); Abraham and Sarah (justification by faith and works, patient trust); Isaac (substitutionary sacrifice type); Ishmael (bondage under law vs. freedom in Christ); Jacob and Esau (election, spiritual growth, profane living and misplaced priorities); Joseph (God's providence and forgiveness); and Melchizedek (a priestly type of Christ). The episode also unpacks recurring motifs and teaching tools: types and antitypes in the Old Testament, three levels of law, Satan's three temptation tactics (doubt God's Word, deny God's consequences, substitute worldly promises), practical sermon outlines, and multiple New Testament cross-references (Romans, Hebrews, Galatians, James, 1 Peter, Jude, Acts). The speaker provides concrete preaching points and pastoral applications—how to illustrate each character's lesson, sermon outline suggestions, and pastoral exhortations for personal growth and ministry. Listeners should expect a 40‑minute rapid tour designed to equip preachers and students with sermon ideas, textual hooks, and pastoral takeaways—encouraging them to focus on a few key figures for teaching, to apply typology responsibly, and to learn spiritual lessons ranging from repentance and obedience to providence and forgiveness. Duration 41:00

April 25, 2026 - Equipped 2026 - Day 3 - 11:00 AM Session   This episode takes a close look at Genesis chapters 26–28, moving from a broad overview of the book into a focused study of the characters, events, and theological lessons in these three chapters. The host reviews the historical sweep of Genesis, summarizes chapters 26–28 (Isaac in Gerar, the stolen blessing, and Jacob's ladder), and reflects on how these stories illustrate both human failing and God's unshaken rule. The program references earlier contributions by guest Chance and includes insights offered during the class session. Chapter-by-chapter, the episode covers: Genesis 26 — Isaac following Abraham's footsteps in Gerar, repeating the ‘‘sister'' deception, growing prosperity, conflicts over wells, the covenant with Abimelech, and Esau's disappointing marriages; Genesis 27 — Rebekah's plot and Jacob's deception that results in the stolen blessing, Isaac's blindness and trembling, Esau's bitter reaction, and the theological tension between human scheming and God's prior will; Genesis 28 — Jacob's departure, the famous ladder-to-heaven vision, his vow and tithe promise, and the beginning of his long exile. The episode pulls out two central themes: sibling rivalry and divine sovereignty. It traces sibling conflict as a recurring, corrosive thread in Scripture (Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers), and identifies four biblical causes of sibling rivalry illustrated here — favoritism, worldliness, selfish ambition, and envy. It also examines the reality of divine sovereignty: how God's purposes are accomplished despite human sin, why God is neither dependent on nor endorses sinful means, and how individual justice and consequences still play out. Listeners will get practical application and pastoral guidance: how to respond to God's sovereignty in uncertain times (trust, obedient service, confident witness, and worship even when it is difficult), and a set of relational prescriptions for families and churches — pursue love not hate, cooperation not competition, unity not separation, honor not innuendo, edification not envy, reconciliation not rivalry, and brotherhood not division. The speaker also highlights the personal costs of ‘‘right outcome, wrong method'' and invites the audience to examine where they stand in these narratives. Overall, this episode blends biblical exposition, pastoral application, and theological reflection — equipping listeners to understand the narrative arc of Genesis 26–28, recognize the spiritual dynamics at work in family and church life, and apply lessons about faithfulness, justice, and the sovereign reign of God in their own lives.   Duration 40:58

When God establishes a covenant, He does more than adjust your circumstances—He transforms your identity, character, legacy, and lifestyle. Discover how God moves beyond the "Ishmael" of our own efforts to birth the "Isaac" of His promise, redefining who you are and calling you into a new normal. Join us as we explore how God's grace operates in the seasons of silence and why it is time to stop introducing yourself by your past.

Islam is now one of the fastest-growing religions in the world. Churches are closing while mosques are rising. And shockingly, many converts to Islam are coming directly out of Christian churches.In this intense and eye-opening live recording and Q&A of The Caffeinated Christian Podcast, Dr Ryan Willert dives into the beliefs of Islam, the origins of the Quran, the role of Muhammad, and the massive theological differences between Islam and Christianity.What do Muslims actually believe about Jesus? Why are so many young people converting?What is Sharia Law? And how should Christians lovingly and intelligently engage Muslim neighbors with the Gospel?This episode explores:• The explosive growth of Islam worldwide• Why some Christians are leaving the church for Islam• Muhammad's visions and the origins of the Quran• The Islamic view of Jesus vs the biblical Jesus• Abraham, Ishmael, and the roots of Islam• The rise of Islamic apologetics online• The “Islamic Antichrist” theory and end-times discussion• How Christians can evangelize Muslims with truth and graceWhether you agree or disagree, this is a conversation the modern church can no longer ignore.CHAPTERS: 00:00:00 - Islam and the Gospel: Understanding Our Neighbors00:04:01 - Called to Study Islam and the Gospel00:06:21 - Islam's Rapid Growth and Christian Conversions00:09:24 - Quran and Sunnah: Islam's Two Primary Sources00:12:26 - Islamic Sources and Five Pillars Overview00:15:18 - The Five Pillars and Core Beliefs of Islam00:17:49 - Muhammad's Early Life and Prophetic Calling00:21:13 - Muhammad's Frightening First Revelation00:24:06 - The Quran's Revelation and Nature Explained00:30:12 - The Quran's Relationship to Torah and Gospel00:35:00 - Jesus and Abraham: Christianity vs Islam00:43:55 - Islam's Deception and Need for Gospel00:45:59 - Evangelizing Muslims with Love and Community00:50:32 - Understanding Sharia Law and Islam00:57:09 - Islamic Antichrist and End Times Prophecy01:00:19 - Closing Prayer and Gratitude#islamicteachings #Christianity #Apologetics #EndTimes #Jesus #Theology #Muslim #Bible #ChristianPodcast #Faith Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After waiting decades, Isaac is born, but joy turns to testing as Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael away and is then asked to offer Isaac. He obeys and journeys to Mount Moriah, where his faith reaches its peak in one of the Bible's most powerful moments, pointing forward to God's sacrifice. What does ultimate faith look like when God asks for what you love most?

Tonight at Congregation TBDJ in Montreal, Rabbi Zolly Claman invited Rabbi Yisroel Bernath to share a unique talk as part of his series on the Characters from the Torah. Rabbi Bernath explored the life of King David through the lens of The Forgiveness Experiment, asking what it really means to forgive without becoming naïve, passive, or unsafe. Moving from Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, and Joseph and his brothers, the class showed how Tanach slowly develops a deeper language of forgiveness, from failed repair, to fragile reconciliation, to Joseph's powerful refusal to let his brothers define his life story.The heart of the class focused on David HaMelech: David sparing Shaul, absorbing Shimei's public curses, grieving Avshalom, and ultimately becoming not only the one who forgives, but the one who must ask for forgiveness. Through David, we saw that forgiveness is not weakness. It is spiritual strength. It is the courage to release resentment without erasing truth, to hold boundaries without becoming bitter, and to stop giving someone else the pen to your story.Key Takeaways-Forgiveness is not pretending the wound never happened; it is deciding that the wound will not become the author of your life.-Joseph teaches us that people may intend harm, but they do not get to define the meaning of our story.-David teaches us that true greatness is measured not only by how we act on the throne, but how we respond when we are humiliated, attacked, and vulnerable.-Forgiveness and boundaries can coexist. David spares Shaul, but he does not move back into the palace.-Shimei represents the person who attacks when we are already bleeding — and David's response teaches us the discipline of not letting resentment turn us into someone we do not want to become.-Divine forgiveness does not erase consequences. David's teshuvah after Bat Sheva is real, but the story still carries responsibility and repair.-The House of David is not built by perfect people. It is built by people who fall, return, forgive, ask forgiveness, and keep choosing life.Rabbi Bernath's New Book: The Forgiveness Experiment is Now #1 Best Seller on Amazon! Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Forgiveness-Experiment-What-Would-Your/dp/1069217638Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FR2QNJL6Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0GMS5DCKH/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-495504&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_495504_rh_us#HouseOfDavid  #theforgivenessexperiment #Rabbiyisroelbernath #KingDavid #DavidHaMelech #Forgiveness #Teshuvah #JewishWisdom #Tanach #BiblicalPersonalities #JosephAndHisBrothers #Shimei #Avshalom #ShaulHaMelech #EmotionalHealing #spiritualgrowth #lettinggo #BoundariesAndForgiveness #JewishLearning #TBDJ #MontrealJewishCommunity #HeartOpenJudaism Join this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi5mua4-gkhiv7NdbJv_C7w/joinAvailable now:Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Forgiveness-Experiment-What-Would-Your/dp/1069217638Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FR2QNJL6Audiobook: https://bit.ly/4tPFZhVSupport the showGot your own question for Rabbi Bernath? He can be reached at rabbi@jewishndg.com or http://www.theloverabbi.comSingle? You can make a profile on www.JMontreal.com and Rabbi Bernath will help you find that special someone.Donate and support Rabbi Bernath's work http://www.jewishndg.com/donateFollow Rabbi Bernath's YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/ybernathAccess Rabbi Bernath's Articles on Relationships https://medium.com/@loverabbi

Send us Fan MailTonight at Congregation TBDJ in Montreal, Rabbi Zolly Claman invited Rabbi Yisroel Bernath to share a unique talk as part of his series on the Characters from the Torah. Rabbi Bernath explored the life of King David through the lens of The Forgiveness Experiment, asking what it really means to forgive without becoming naïve, passive, or unsafe. Moving from Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, and Joseph and his brothers, the class showed how Tanach slowly develops a deeper language of forgiveness, from failed repair, to fragile reconciliation, to Joseph's powerful refusal to let his brothers define his life story.The heart of the class focused on David HaMelech: David sparing Shaul, absorbing Shimei's public curses, grieving Avshalom, and ultimately becoming not only the one who forgives, but the one who must ask for forgiveness. Through David, we saw that forgiveness is not weakness. It is spiritual strength. It is the courage to release resentment without erasing truth, to hold boundaries without becoming bitter, and to stop giving someone else the pen to your story.Key Takeaways-Forgiveness is not pretending the wound never happened; it is deciding that the wound will not become the author of your life.-Joseph teaches us that people may intend harm, but they do not get to define the meaning of our story.-David teaches us that true greatness is measured not only by how we act on the throne, but how we respond when we are humiliated, attacked, and vulnerable.-Forgiveness and boundaries can coexist. David spares Shaul, but he does not move back into the palace.-Shimei represents the person who attacks when we are already bleeding — and David's response teaches us the discipline of not letting resentment turn us into someone we do not want to become.-Divine forgiveness does not erase consequences. David's teshuvah after Bat Sheva is real, but the story still carries responsibility and repair.-The House of David is not built by perfect people. It is built by people who fall, return, forgive, ask forgiveness, and keep choosing life.Rabbi Bernath's New Book: The Forgiveness Experiment is Now #1 Best Seller on Amazon!Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Forgiveness-Experiment-What-Would-Your/dp/1069217638Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FR2QNJL6Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0GMS5DCKH/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-495504&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_495504_rh_us#HouseOfDavid  #theforgivenessexperiment #Rabbiyisroelbernath #KingDavid #DavidHaMelech #Forgiveness #Teshuvah #JewishWisdom #Tanach #BiblicalPersonalities #JosephAndHisBrothers #Shimei #Avshalom #ShaulHaMelech #EmotionalHealing #spiritualgrowth #lettinggo #BoundariesAndForgiveness #JewishLearning #TBDJ #MontrealJewishCommunity #HeartOpenJudaism Available now:Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Forgiveness-Experiment-What-Would-Your/dp/1069217638Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FR2QNJL6Audiobook: https://bit.ly/4tPFZhVSupport the showGot your own question for Rabbi Bernath? He can be reached at rabbi@jewishndg.com or http://www.theloverabbi.comSingle? You can make a profile on www.JMontreal.com and Rabbi Bernath will help you find that special someone.Donate and support Rabbi Bernath's work http://www.jewishndg.com/donateFollow Rabbi Bernath's YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/ybernathAccess Rabbi Bernath's Articles on Relationships https://medium.com/@loverabbi

May 24th | Freedom | Galatians 4:21-5:12Pastor Todd Kaunitz continues through Galatians with a powerful message on the freedom found in Christ alone. In Galatians 4–5, Paul confronts the false belief that salvation requires both Jesus and human effort. Through the story of Isaac and Ishmael, we see the difference between living by the flesh and living by the promise of God through faith.This episode explores how believers often drift toward two dangerous ditches: rebellion or religion. Whether it's indulging the desires of the flesh or trusting in legalism and performance, both lead back to slavery. But the Gospel declares a better way—freedom through Jesus and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.Pastor Todd challenges listeners to stand firm in the Gospel, reject distorted teaching, and realign their lives with the truth of God's grace. If you've ever struggled with shame, striving, compromise, or trying to earn God's approval, this message is a reminder that true freedom is found in Christ alone.“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” — Galatians 5:1Do you know JESUS? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.nbgilmer.org/do-you-know-jesus⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Need PRAYER? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.nbgilmer.org/pray⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support through GIVING: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.nbbctx.org/giving⁠

Pastor Lucas closes out the “Forefront” series with a message tackling one of the most controversial and misunderstood topics in today's culture: Islam.On Memorial Day weekend, Pastor Lucas shares highlights from a packed week of travel — from a Red Sox game in Boston, to the “Make Heaven Crowded” event in Portland, Maine where 50 people gave their lives to Christ, to the national Rededicate America gathering in Washington, D.C. with more than 50,000 attendees. He also recounts a private Capitol tour focused on the Judeo-Christian foundations of America's government.In this final installment of the “Forefront” series, Pastor Lucas examines the historical and theological claims of Islam, comparing the Quran with the Torah and Gospels while exploring the relationship between Sharia law and Constitutional freedoms.Through historical evidence, biblical analysis, and cultural commentary, Pastor Lucas challenges believers not to respond with fear, but to boldly and compassionately share the Gospel. He encourages Christians to lovingly engage Muslims in conversation, using both Scripture and truth to point people toward Christ.The message closes with communion, a Gospel presentation, and a reminder that true peace is found in Jesus — not fear, politics, or cultural division.Key Themes:Is Islam truly an Abrahamic religionThe “Islamic Dilemma”Sharia law vs. Constitutional freedomsAbraham, Ishmael, and the claim of MeccaThe reliability of Scripture and the Dead Sea ScrollsHow Christians should engage Muslims with truth and loveTimestamps:0:20 — Opening & trip recap (Boston, Maine, Washington D.C.) 6:04 — Introduction to the “Forefront” series finale: Islam 12:26 — Quran vs. Constitution: Sharia law & American freedoms 22:12 — How Christians can lovingly engage Muslims with truth 31:31 — The “Islamic Dilemma” explained 38:49 — Abraham, Hagar & Ishmael in Genesis 51:35 — Dead Sea Scrolls & the reliability of Scripture 1:00:40 — Peace over fear 1:02:31 — Communion & Gospel presentation

Pastor Lucas closes out the “Forefront” series with a message tackling one of the most controversial and misunderstood topics in today's culture: Islam.On Memorial Day weekend, Pastor Lucas shares highlights from a packed week of travel — from a Red Sox game in Boston, to the “Make Heaven Crowded” event in Portland, Maine where 50 people gave their lives to Christ, to the national Rededicate America gathering in Washington, D.C. with more than 50,000 attendees. He also recounts a private Capitol tour focused on the Judeo-Christian foundations of America's government.In this final installment of the “Forefront” series, Pastor Lucas examines the historical and theological claims of Islam, comparing the Quran with the Torah and Gospels while exploring the relationship between Sharia law and Constitutional freedoms.Through historical evidence, biblical analysis, and cultural commentary, Pastor Lucas challenges believers not to respond with fear, but to boldly and compassionately share the Gospel. He encourages Christians to lovingly engage Muslims in conversation, using both Scripture and truth to point people toward Christ.The message closes with communion, a Gospel presentation, and a reminder that true peace is found in Jesus — not fear, politics, or cultural division.Key Themes:Is Islam truly an Abrahamic religionThe “Islamic Dilemma”Sharia law vs. Constitutional freedomsAbraham, Ishmael, and the claim of MeccaThe reliability of Scripture and the Dead Sea ScrollsHow Christians should engage Muslims with truth and loveTimestamps:0:20 — Opening & trip recap (Boston, Maine, Washington D.C.) 6:04 — Introduction to the “Forefront” series finale: Islam 12:26 — Quran vs. Constitution: Sharia law & American freedoms 22:12 — How Christians can lovingly engage Muslims with truth 31:31 — The “Islamic Dilemma” explained 38:49 — Abraham, Hagar & Ishmael in Genesis 51:35 — Dead Sea Scrolls & the reliability of Scripture 1:00:40 — Peace over fear 1:02:31 — Communion & Gospel presentation

April 25, 2026 - Equipped 2026 - Day 3 - 10:00 AM Session This episode is a sermon-style teaching that walks through Genesis 20–25, using the lives of Abraham and Isaac to reveal the character of the God who is called the friend of Abraham. Rather than focusing only on the biographical details of Abraham, the message unpacks how these chapters help us know God better — his pursuit of people, his faithfulness to promises, and his gracious provision. Topics covered include Abraham's journey to Gerar and the Abimelech episode, God's intervention in dreams, the opening of Sarah's womb and the birth of Isaac, the covenant at Beersheba, Hagar and Ishmael's desert deliverance, the testing on Mount Moriah, Sarah's burial in Machpelah, the servant's mission to find Rebekah, and the blessing of Ishmael and Isaac leading to the Jacob and Esau scene. The episode ties these Old Testament narratives to New Testament fulfillment in Jesus, the Spirit as our guarantee, and the hope of resurrection. Key points emphasized: God is a pursuing God who draws his people back in times of weak faith; God is a fulfilling God who keeps his promises; God is a providing God who brings life in the face of certain death; God is a resurrecting God who inspires trust beyond the grave; God guides and directs his people; and God is the blessing-giver whose gifts we must not trade for immediate gratification. The teaching highlights numerous typological connections to Jesus — the Seed, the Lamb, the Resurrected One — and explains how those themes shape Christian hope and discipleship. Listeners can expect a pastoral, Scripture-saturated exposition (no external guests), practical application for seasons of wavering faith, and a steady invitation to trust the God of Abraham — the friend who pursues, provides, fulfills, leads, and blesses his people now and forever. Duration 37:47

April 24, 2026 - Equipped 2026 - Day 2 - 3:30 PM Session This lectureship sermon walks through Genesis chapters 15–17, exploring how God's promises are revealed and fulfilled in the lives of Abram/Abraham, Sarai/Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael and the promised son Isaac. Delivered by a minister at a Christian lectureship (no guest speakers), the message focuses on biblical-history, covenant theology, and practical application for believers today. Genesis 15 is presented as a chapter of assurance: Abram's fear about being childless, God's repeated promise (look to the stars), and the covenant-ceremony with divided animals and the smoking oven/burning torch that confirms God's presence and sworn commitment. The preacher emphasizes that God is our shield and exceedingly great reward, and that past fulfillments of promise (culminating in Christ) give us confidence in future promises. Genesis 16 examines the danger of human attempts to "help" God: Sarai's plan to use Hagar, the painful consequences of that decision, Hagars flight and encounter with the angel of the Lord, and the birth and future character of Ishmael. The sermon warns that planning for God reveals a lack of faith, produces dissatisfaction, and ultimately fails to achieve Gods intended purpose. Genesis 17 highlights the renewal and clarification of God's covenant: Abram's name becomes Abraham, Sarai's name becomes Sarah, the covenant sign of circumcision is commanded (on the eighth day), and the promise of Isaacs coming is made explicit. The speaker notes the wisdom of the eighth-day command (medical context of clotting/prothrombin) and commends Abraham's prompt obedience, while noting God's broader mercy toward Ishmael. Key takeaways and applications: God's promises can carry us through deep fears; they do not require our feeble adjustments; and they point to a bright future founded on Gods faithfulness and oath (Hebrews 6). Listeners are encouraged to trust God's timing, rely on His presence, and find hope in the fulfilled and yet-to-be-fulfilled promises revealed throughout Scripture. Duration 37:26

The Analogy of Hagar and Ishmael

When we grow impatient waiting for God's promises, we often take matters into our own hands—but what happens when we settle for an "Ishmael" instead of waiting for God's "Isaac"? Explore the destructive cycle of living by the flesh, from creating our own timelines to forcing our own ways, and discover the freedom found in trusting God's perfect timing. Pastor Mike breaks down the five ways our impatience leads to bondage and why true faith requires the courage to wait on God's way.

Abraham has come home. He's gone south for the last time, now he's living in the land of promise, and God is ready to fulfill His promise of a son—when Abraham is 100 years old! Pull up a chair at Abraham's celebratory feast and witness as Ishmael begins to mock Isaac. Together we'll see how these events are full of symbolism for us today.

Throughout Genesis we see over and over that when God makes a promise, He sticks to it. In this study, we're reminded of the details surrounding His covenant with Abraham, see Abraham plead on Ishmael's (his illegitimate son) behalf, and hear God promise to bless Ishmael and give him a multitude of descendants.

Just when things look impossible, God makes a way. That's what we'll see in this study of Genesis. Learn more about Abraham's story of disobedience (and the birth of his illegitimate child, Ishmael) and God's faithfulness in giving Him a son through Sarah when he's 100 years old.