Sarah: A Flawed Heroine Of The Faith Series

Introduction

Last week, I started a sermon series from Hebrews 11 that I am calling, “Flawed: Heroes of the Faith.” This five-week sermon series explores the lives and flaws of some of the believers listed in Hebrews 11. Today, we are going to study Sarah, a flawed heroine of the faith.

I have three grandchildren. As every grandparent knows, grandchildren are wonderful. I have often said, “If I had known how wonderful grandchildren are, we would have skipped having children and just had grandchildren!” But, of course, it doesn’t work that way, does it?

One of the blessings for us is that we get to visit with our grandchildren several times a year. We love to see them. And we love to see them grow up. A special time is when we sit down to have a meal together. We put the food on their plates and cut into smaller bite-sized pieces what needs to be cut. When the children were small, they used to eat with their fingers. Then, as they got a little older, they started trying to use the little plastic fork or spoon. Now, I was very happy when they started using utensils because I don’t like a mess. However, the children often decide that it is easier to use their fingers rather than use utensils. Then I get frustrated and say, “Here, let me just do it for you!” And I will pick up the spoon and feed them myself.

Do you sometimes lose patience like that? Perhaps it is a child who is still learning to do things for himself. Or perhaps it is a co-worker who is new to the job and instead of letting her learn the procedures, you say, “I’ll just do it myself.”

Sometimes, we get like that with God. We decide that we will take over and do something because we are impatient with God’s timing.

Today’s lesson is about Sarah, who is listed in “The Bible’s Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11. Sarah was Abraham’s wife. She was one of the sixteen believers named in “The Bible’s Hall of Faith.” She is also the first of two women listed, the other woman being Rahab.

As we examine the faith of Sarah, we want to keep in mind that she did not always have strong faith. Like all people, Sarah was a sinner who failed at times. Nevertheless, through ups and downs, she came to a confident faith in the promise of God.

Scripture

Let us read Hebrews 11:11:

By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.

Lesson

Hebrews 11:11 teaches us that what we cannot do in our strength, God can do.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. Faith Sometimes Falters

2. God Deals Tenderly with Faltering Faith

3. Confident Faith Takes God at His Word

1. Faith Sometimes Falters

As we begin our examination of the faith of Sarah, I want us to see that faith sometimes falters.

To understand what God did in Sarah’s life, we need to go back to the beginning.

The first time Sarah is mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis 11. There we learn about a man named Terah who was the father of Abram (who later became known as Abraham), Nahor, and Haran. After Haran was grown and had a son named Lot, Haran died in the ancient city of Ur in Mesopotamia. Abram and Nahor got married; Abram to Sarai and Nahor to Milcah.

So, although we know her as Sarah, she was first called Sarai. Interestingly, Genesis 11:30 tells us, “Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.”

For some unstated reason, Terah took Abram, Sarai, and Lot and traveled many hundreds of miles from Ur to the land of Canaan. But before he got to Canaan, he settled in a place called Haran. Eventually, Terah died at the age of 205.

Genesis 12 tells us about God’s call to Abram to leave his country and his kindred and travel to the land that the Lord would show Abram. Moreover, God promised that he would make Abram a great nation and that through him all the families on the earth would be blessed.

So Abram went as the Lord promised him. He was seventy-five years old when he and Sarai and Lot departed from Haran. Sarai was ten years younger than Abram, and so she was sixty-five years old.

When Abram got to the land that God had promised to give him, the Lord appeared to Abram again and said, “To your offspring I will give this land” (Genesis 12:7).

Can you imagine how encouraging this must have been to Abram and Sarai? They were both getting old and they had not had any children. Now God told them that they were going to have a child, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so many offspring that they would possess the entire land. How exciting was that!