Welcome
Invite various persons to bring a designated item and use this liturgy to begin your time of learning together.
One: Come, let us gather around and see how the Spirit will nurture our faith today.
All: Who is with us?
One: Christ, the light of the world.
(Place a candle on a table in your gathering place and light it.)
All: Who is with us?
One: The Love of God, who came to meet us in the world.
(Place a cross on a table in your gathering place.)
All: Who is with us?
One: The Wisdom of God, who speaks through the Scriptures.
(Place an open Bible on a table in your gathering place.)
All: Who is with us?
One: The Grace of God, who proclaims we are children of God.
(Place a symbol of baptism – a bowl of water, a seashell – on a table in your gathering space.)
All: Who is with us?
One: Our risen Lord, who meets us at the table.
(Place a symbol of communion – a plate and cup, a loaf of bread, grapes – on a table in your gathering space.)
One: We are here, Holy Spirit, ready for your leading.
God sightings and prayer offerings
Invite each person to share where they saw or experienced God this week. Invite each person to share something — a person, community, experience, event, etc. – for which they want to offer prayer.
Good and gracious God, we thank you for all the ways you were and are present in our lives and in the world. [Invite each person to say aloud the sighting they named earlier.] We bring our prayers to you, prayers for… [invite each person to say aloud the prayer need they named earlier]. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.
Connecting with Scripture: Genesis 18:1-15 and 21:1-7
Read the Scripture aloud the first time using the New Revised Standard Version or the Common English Bible.
Invite each person to choose a character from the story they just heard. Ask those gathered to close their eyes and listen to the Scripture read aloud again. Ask them to pay attention to how they would act/react if they were that character in the story. Once finished, invite people to share:
- What role did your chosen character play?
- In your mind, how did they react?
- Why do you think they reacted in that way?
Connecting through story
Watch the movie clip from “Hidden Figures” about Katherine as a young child.
- What could Katherine do that seemed impossible?
- What were the things that worked against Katherine so that people would think what she could do was impossible?
- Why did Katherine’s parents agree for her to go to a different school?
- What should Katherine do with the gift she had been given?
Connecting with our lives
Engage in dialogue:
- What was God’s message to Abraham and Sarah?
- Why did Sarah laugh?
- Why did it seem impossible that Abraham and Sarah would have a child?
- What did God do in the face of “human impossibility”?
- What seems impossible in your life and/or in the world today?
- In what ways do you think God will work through those challenges to make something amazing happen?
- When God brings about what we thought was impossible, what should we do with that gift?
Teaching points that can be incorporated into your discussion:
- This is a foundational story for all three major religions — Judaism, Christianity and Islam. All three trace their faith ancestry back to Abraham and the promise God made to Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 12:1-4. God chooses Abraham and Sarah; God will make a great nation of their family and God will bless them.
- In order for Abraham and Sarah to become a great nation they have to have a family, but Abraham and Sarah do not have children and they are very old.
- Abraham and Sarah believe God’s promise but when it doesn’t happen immediately, they begin to struggle and doubt.
- The Lord appeared to Abraham to reassure him that the promises made to him would indeed happen. Sarah would have a baby even though she was too old according to the ways of the world.
- Because Sarah thought it was impossible, she laughed.
- Sarah’s laughter turns to joy as God’s promises are kept. She named her baby Isaac, which means laughter.
Spend a few minutes as a family thinking about and sharing what things seem impossible but are too important to give up on. In what ways can you partner with God to help the impossible become possible?
Prayer
Close your time together by praying for one another, your neighbor, community and the world.
REBECCA DAVIS is the associate professor of Christian education at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. A teaching elder and certified educator, she served congregations for over 20 years before moving into academic teaching. In addition to teaching and mentoring students, her passion is child advocacy and ministry.
