Thresholds, Week 1: Abraham’s Call
Genesis 12:1-7 (NIV)
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Discussion Questions
Pastor Dave described thresholds as crossings that mark a passage from one season of life to the next — some planned, some surprising, some joyful, some sorrowful, many both. What is the most significant threshold you’ve crossed in your life, and what made it feel like a true turning point?
Abraham was 75 years old, settled, comfortable, and prosperous when God called him to go. What does it tell you about God that he calls people to new beginnings even when they are deeply comfortable where they are — and what does it say to you personally?
The Hebrew word for “go” — halak — also means “walk.” God didn’t call Abraham to sprint or leap; he called him to keep walking. How does that image of steady, faithful walking change the way you think about obedience in your own life?
Pastor Dave admitted that the older he gets, the harder new beginnings feel — because he can see the risks more clearly and knows better what he has to lose. Do you find that true for yourself? How has your relationship with change shifted over different seasons of life?’
God gave Abraham no map, no itinerary, and no forewarning of obstacles — just the promise that he would show him the way as he went. Where in your life right now are you being asked to trust God’s leading without having the full picture in front of you?
Pastor Dave shared his own chain of thresholds — Milroy, Haiti, St. Luke’s, Zionsville — and noted that in each one the future felt uncertain, but God provided direction and blessing at every step. Take a few minutes to trace your own chain of thresholds. What patterns do you notice in how God has shown up?
Walter Brueggeman wrote: “It is the oath and not the circumstance that tells the true story of reality.” What does it mean in practice to let God’s promise define your reality rather than your present circumstances — especially when those circumstances are painful or discouraging?
The sermon described Abraham’s recurring tension between what God promised and the reality he was living in. Where do you feel that tension most acutely right now — between what God has promised and what you can actually see?
The series is called Thresholds. As you enter this stewardship season, what threshold do you sense God might be inviting you toward — in your faith, your generosity, your relationships, or your sense of calling?
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