In this passage, God gives Abraham a covenant call, a covenant sign, and promises a covenant child. Of of these are shadows of which are cast by New Covenant realities.

Sarai and Abram's dubious decision along with Hagar's desperate circumstance shows us when God is and is not pleased to move in our lives.

In this passage God ratifies His promise to Abram with an ancient covenant cutting ceremony which points to the ultimate basis God has given His people for trusting Him.

In this passage Lot and Abram continue to serve as paradigms of two divergent spiritual trajectories, while the shadowy, Melchizedek, serves as a theological compass pointing to the source of victory foreshadowing redemption in Christ.

We hunger for a great move of God, but the good news is that we do not have to manufacture that move through techniques or ingenuity. God has not left us to our own devices, but has ordained identifiable means of grace through which he builds and preserves His people.

Behind the practice of church discipline there is a settled conviction- If someone's life demonstrates that they are spiritually dead, it is by the church's very silence that it will give the impression that someone is spiritually alive when they are in fact spiritually dead. Thus, the church must not remain silent when it sees open and unrepentant sin in a person's life. The most loving thing we can do is show the person that they are on a path to eternal destruction.

A local church is not ultimately comprised of people who happen to be there, but of those who are committed to there. Our church is made up of its members who believe the gospel, agree with the church's statement of faith, and bear the fruit of Christlikeness in their life.

This sermon explains the essence of Baptist ecclesiology and the biblical basis for affirming it.

Throughout history God has breathed life into His people when they return to the study and obedience of His Word. That is why our church is committed to passing down Christian truth in a structured and deliberate way.