MISSION POSSIBLE
Genesis 18:1-15; 21:1-7
Introduction
We are focused on recovery this month because addiction is a huge issue in our country. Our goals in this series are… We seek to find hope in the Gospel. We seek to remove the stigma of addiction by admitting we are all sinners and we all need help. We seek to reveal resources available in our community.
Addictions have large impact on our community and in the world. The five most common addictions:
Tobacco (nicotine) Legal, easy to get, and side effects take time to develop, but Tobacco use claims more lives than any other addictive substance.
Alcohol - 18 million people addicted
Marijuana - 4.2 million. Rates of marijuana addiction might be growing due to increasing potency.
Painkillers - 1.8 million - drugs like codeine, vicodin, and oxycontin can become addictive. Patients who need them don’t notice they have a problem until they try to stop. They are often misused without a prescription.
Cocaine -821,000- rates of cocaine addiction are dropping; Heroin (growing)
We are grateful for all addiction recovery programs.
“No matter how dark the moment, love and hope are always possible.” — George Chakiris
In our focus on recovery, we should always focus on what is possible. And with God’s help, recovery is always possible.
1. The Impossible Promise
God made a glorious promise to Abraham. (Gen 12:1-3). Abraham was one of the greatest men of faith. He waited years for this promise to be fulfilled. He tried to fulfill the promise himself. He never stopped believing in the promise or in God, but it became an impossible promise.
He had traveled to the plains of Mamre and there by some oaks he set up his place to live. Three men came to see him. We know that they were angels of the Lord, that the Lord spoke through them. Abraham scrambled to be hospitable. He was old and so was his wife. They had come to grips with the impossible promise. Message of the Lord: Genesis 18:9-15. Abraham was amazed.Sarah laughed (then denied). A profound question was asked: Is anything impossible for the Lord?
Genesis 21:1-7 is the culmination of this promise. Abraham was 100, Sarah was 90, when Isaac born. Way back in Genesis 12 God could have told Abraham that he would be 100 when this promise was going to come to pass!
I love Sarah’s assurance that “everyone who hears will laugh with me” (Genesis 21:6). So, it just seems natural to name this newborn son Isaac, which means he laughs (Genesis 17:19).
Believing in the impossible promises of God is what we do as Christians. And it is what will help us overcome our addictions, struggles, obsessions, thoughts, and actions that are harming ourselves and others.
2. Three Things to Remember About God’s Impossible Power
God Never Forgets His Promises. Abraham had journeyed many miles since he first heard God’s amazing promise. Yet here he is 100 years old just now seeing it come to pass. Romans 4:18-20. As we face the challenges of life we can sometimes think we’re in it alone - and we can sometimes think recovery is impossible - but He is always there. Hebrews 13:5 “I will never leave you or abandon you.” When life becomes unmanageable, believe that there is a God and turn your life over to Him.
God Does Not Reverse His Promises. Though some promises of God are conditional in Scripture, He keeps his promises even when we bumble our way on the journey of faith. Abraham and Sarah were certainly not faultless in their faith, but they continued to believe God would keep His promise somehow. In spite of their very human capacity of faith, God’s capacity of power was never in danger of failure. All of us have problems going on in our lives, in our minds, in our families, in our behavior, in our speech, in our obsessions, in the substances we refuse to give up (alcohol, drugs, sex, sugar, nicotine, screen time, gambling, work, porn, etc)? Though destructive, we allow them to continue to cause issues in our lives. Maybe we think they are impossible to leave behind. But while we struggle, God stays steady.
God Is Never Limited By The Difficulty of His Promises. Humans always have an out. “I couldn’t help it” or “It was beyond my control” – at some point, we reach the edge of our capability. God, however, has no end to His capability. Medically, this is a birth that shouldn’t have happened. God does not have the limitations that are a part of the construct of our lives. Hebrews 11;11, 12.
Conclusion
1. Look to Abraham and Sarah, friends. Is anything impossible for the Lord?
2. Every week in support group meetings around the world people are finding impossible progress being made in the lives of those willing to turn it all over to a God who loves to make the impossible possible.
3. Every week in churches all around the world people are turning to God asking His help and strength and finding it in Jesus Christ. Will it be you today?
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LifeGroup Questions
1. In Genesis 18:1ff, three visitors came to Abraham. He rushed to offer them hospitality.
*What were some of the offers he made to them?
*At what point does it appear to you that Abraham knew that this was an appearance of the Lord?
*What can we learn from this part of the story about our attitude and response toward strangers?
*It’s hard not to think of Hebrews 13:1-2. How can the church apply this principle toward the recovery
community?
2. When the Lord delivers his message about Sarah’s child being born within a year, the Scripture records that she
laughed.
*How would you characterize that laugh? Some have characterized it as a sarcastic laugh (yeah, right!).
How do you see it?
*Why did Sarah deny it at first?
*Is the Lord’s response a rebuke or said with a smile? How do you read it?
*How does this relate to the child’s eventual name?
3. The Lord’s response to Sarah’s laugh is, “Is anything impossible for the Lord?” Remember Abraham and Sarah
have stumbled along for decades believing an impossible promise.
* What sometimes robs us of the faith that our ‘impossible’ prayers have potential to be answered?
*What can give us the faith to continue to believe in prayers that seem impossible?
4. In Genesis 21:1-7 we read the culmination of God’s promise of the birth of a son. Sarah is very happy (for now!
Don’t read ahead!). She says, “everyone who hears will laugh with me” (vs 6).
*What are some events in your own spiritual journey that make you smile as you remember them?
*The happiest moment is when someone gives their life to the Lord. For some, even some in recovery, the
idea that God could cleanse them of all past sins is too good to believe.
- What would you share with someone who wondered if God could forgive them?
- In recovery people sometimes people slip into relapse and fall into the same troubles they had
previously escaped. What is the “Gospel” or good news for them?
- Read the following verses and share your initial impressions of what they teach us.
Mark 10:27; Luke 1:37, Matthew 17:20, Matthew 26:39
Resources
Ten Most Common Addictions in America
https://www.addictioncenter.com/addiction/10-most-common-addictions/
Statistics on Addiction in America
https://www.addictioncenter.com/addiction/addiction-statistics/
Reasons People Fail to Overcome Addiction
https://alcoholrehab.com/addiction-articles/reasons-people-fail-to-overcome-addiction/
What makes Twelve-Step Programs Therapeutic?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/some-assembly-required/201312/what-makes-twelve-step-programs-therapeutic
