Next Steps--Lesson 6--Go Out & Count the Stars--Genesis 12 & 15

Discussion Questions:

1.  How is faith in God not logical or illogical?  Why must we keep in mind that faith is only true faith if it is Theological? 

2.  What made Abram willing to take the next step with God to go to a land he didn’t know among a people he didn’t know?  What promises has God given to you that help you to be willing to go where He sends you and do what He asks of you?

3.  How much of our waiting upon God is because of Him and how much is because of us? (I know there is no definitive percentage one can give but discuss the implications of this question.). What role does character development play in God being able to move forward with us?

4.  What assumptions about aging and its limitations or a lack of gifts would God probably laugh at or challenge your assumptions if you expressed them to Him? 

5.  How has your limited perspective and being caught up in time led to anxiety or even some doubt or loss of faith?  How does this tie into our faith needing to be Theological?

6.  Why did God take Abram outside and tell him to look at the stars?  What kinds of ceilings have your (wrong) assumptions placed in your life that hinder your abilities to trust in His promises?

7.  How does being in awe influence faith?  What kinds of things help you stay in awe of God?  How do man-made ceilings and wrong assumptions work against maintaining awe of God?

8.  How is God’s presence and activity in your life often like stars in the daytime?  Why is it often in the darkness that God’s presence and direction shine out more brightly?

9.  Why is it important to have faith like a child?  What kinds of things have you seen differently because of your children or other children in your life?

10. The story ends with laughter—Isaac is named “He laughs” and Sarah says God has brought her laughter (Gen. 21:6).  How is that an appropriate end for a sermon series about taking next steps with God?