SermonStudio

According to the priestly school, this is another account of
Yahweh's covenant with Abraham. As with Noah, Yahweh offers a
covenant with Abraham. Through the covenant Yahweh offers him a
people, a land, a son and a God. The outward sign of the covenant
is circumcision. The effect of the covenant is a change in
Abraham's life symbolized by the change of his name from Abram to
Abraham. In response Abraham has the responsibility to walk
before Yahweh and to live blamelessly. Yet, when Yahweh informed
him that Sarah would have a son, he laughed in unbelief.

Lesson 2: Romans 4:13-25 (C)
In this pericope Paul uses Abraham as proof that we are not
saved by works of the law, but by faith in Christ. The covenant
is the product of grace expressed in God's promise. God promised
Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. Abraham
accepted this promise by faith even though he had no son and
because of old age there was no human possibility of having a
child. Yet, he had the faith that God was able to do what he
promises. Because of this faith Abraham was counted as righteous
or saved. It was not the work of circumcision that saved Abraham,
but the faith in the promises of God that preceded circumcision
which was only a sign of the previous relationship between God
and Abraham. In the same way today we are saved not by keeping
the law, but by faith in Christ with baptism taking the place of
circumcision.

Gospel: Mark 8:31-38 (C, E, L)
Jesus and the disciples are at Caesarea Philippi. Peter had
confessed Jesus as the Christ. Thereupon Jesus explains to his
disciples that as the Messiah he must go to Jerusalem to suffer
and die. This did not fit into Peter's conception of the Messiah
and therefore he rebukes Jesus. Jesus sees this as a temptation
not to go to the cross. He turns down the temptation by seeing
Satan in Peter. Then, in the second part of the Lesson (vv. 34-
38), Jesus explains to both disciples and people that they, too,
are to take the way of the cross that involves denial, suffering
and sacrifice.

Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 22:23-31 (C) -- "You who fear the Lord, praise him!" (v. 23)
Psalm 16 (E); Psalm 115:1, 9-18 (L)

Prayer Of The Day
"Heavenly Father, it is your glory always to have mercy. Bring
back all who have erred and strayed from your ways; lead them
again to embrace in faith the truth of your Word and to hold it
fast."

Hymn Of The Day
"Take Up Your Cross, The Savior Said"

Theme Of The Day: Promises With A Price
Gospel -- Price of a cross.
Lesson 1 -- Price of obedience.
Lesson 2 -- Price of faith.
Last Sunday we dealt with the covenant made with Noah. Today
Lessons 1 and 2 involve the covenant made with Abraham. It may be
difficult to see the Gospel's connection with the other Lessons.
A covenant deals with promises. To make these promises effective
and applicable, a price must be paid. It is not paying a price to
get God to make promises, but the price is what we pay to make
them our own. In Lesson 1 Yahweh told Abraham to keep the
covenant by circumcision, an act of obedience. Faith is the issue
in Lesson 2, because by faith God's promises are appropriated.
For the promise of salvation to be possible, the Gospel tells us
of the necessity of the cross which Peter did not understand. He
reacted similarly to Abraham when he was told his 90-year-old
Sarah would have a son. The Psalm of the Day refers to the
covenant with Abraham. The Prayer calls upon us to return to the
faith, to be faithful to the new covenant in Christ. The Hymn is
related to the cross and the Gospel for the Day.

THEOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS
Gospel: Mark 8:31-38
1. Must (v. 31). Jesus explains to his disciples that his
upcoming passion and death are a "must." To go to the cross is
not optional but necessary. There is no other way, no choice.
This was confirmed when Jesus prayed in Gethsemane for the cup of
death to pass away. The cross is more than the sum total of human
failures and sins. The cross is God's plan to redeem the world.
To die on the cross is God's will for Jesus. Does this excuse
Peter's denial, Judas' betrayal and Pilate's vacillation?
2. Rise (v. 31). "After three days rise again." Jesus tags
this on to the end of the distressing forecast: suffering,
rejection, death. As a kind of postscript, Jesus adds that he
will rise again. It seems to detract from the dreadfulness of the
cross. Sometimes we wish it were not there because it seems to
detract from the passion of Lent. It belongs to Easter, and we
are not ready for it now. On the other hand, it is a most
important phrase, for it tells us how it is going to end. We can,
therefore, go through Lent with its sorrow and pain in a joyful
spirit of hope. We can endure the pain for the joy of ultimate
victory.
3. Plainly (v. 32). In telling of his coming passion, Jesus
spoke "plainly." He was honest, frank and pulled no punches. He
told it as it was going to be. Heretofore, Jesus taught primarily
in parables. He let his hearers decide what he meant. Now there
must be no misunderstanding. He, the Christ, is going to suffer
shame, suffering and death. That is plain talk.
4. Cross (v. 34). The rugged cross means a rugged way of life
for a follower of Christ. The Christian style of life is a hard
life. Jesus' life consisted of sorrow, rejection, suffering and
death. His followers can expect no less. The Christian life has a
cross at its center. John Donne said, "No cross is so extreme, as
to have none. There is no gain without pain." President Truman
had a sign on his desk: "Bring me only bad news. Good news
weakens me." In Tom Sawyer Clemens wrote, "He had discovered a
great law of human action, without knowing it -- namely, that in
order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary
to make the thing difficult to obtain."

Lesson 1: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
1. Covenant (vv. 2, 4, 7, 9, 10). In this short passage
"covenant" occurs 6 times. It is a key word in the Bible. A
covenant is an agreement, promissory note or contract between God
and his people. It is a relationship with the Divine, offered by
grace, received by faith, and externalized by a physical sign.
Another word for "covenant" is "testament." Thus, we have the Old
and New Testaments. Still another name is "sacrament." Baptism is
the time and act when a covenant is made with a believer. The
Lord's Supper is a renewal of

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the baptismal covenant. A covenant consists of promises made by
both God and the believer. These promises are officially binding
up on both parties when the sign or seal is imposed.
2. Name (v. 5). What effect does a covenant have on a human?
For Abraham the covenantal experience changed his name from Abram
to Abraham. In the Bible a name represents the nature of the
person. If one's nature changed, a new name was given to match
the new nature. What happens to a person when God confronts him
and when God speaks to a person? The individual is transformed. A
radical change takes place. The person is a new individual
because he is God-centered and God-controlled. Accordingly, at
baptism a child is given a Christian name. Sometimes baptism is
called christening, that is, the Christianizing of the baptized
person.
3. Circumcised (v. 10). The sign of the Abrahamic covenant was
circumcision. It was an outward sign of the relationship with
Yahweh in which he was their God and they were his people. Women
today may look at this as a case of male chauvinism, for only
males entered the covenant by circumcision and women were
included through their husbands. It needs to be seen that
circumcision does not affect the relationship but follows as a
sign of a fait accompli. In the first century, circumcision was a
point of hot controversy in the church, for some, Judaizers,
insisted that to be a Christian one had to be circumcised. Paul
called for a circumcision of the heart and not of the body.

Lesson 2: Romans 4:13-25
1. Hope (v. 18). A proof of Abraham's faith was his hope when
there was no reason to hope. God promised that he would be a
father of nations when he was childless! Moreover, he was about
100 and Sarah was 90 years old and past the child-bearing age.
God was promising the human impossibility. Yet, Abraham had the
faith to hope that what God promised would come true. How God was
going to do it he did not know, but by faith he was sure some day
he would be a father.
2. Reckoned (v. 22). Because of his faith, Abraham was
reckoned as righteous. What does "reckon" mean? Another word for
it is "accounted." The Good News Bible translates the word as
"accepted." It is an important word, for it points to salvation
by grace. Because of faith, a person is accounted as or accepted
as righteous. It is not that the believer is righteous, but for
Christ's sake, God accepts the sinner as righteous. Christ paid
the price for sin and fulfilled the law so that the Father for
his sake would consider the sinner justified.
3. Righteousness (v. 22). This, too, is a difficult word
because Paul uses it in different ways. Here he uses the word as
a synonym for salvation. It is not a moral righteousness. Rather
it is a justification. Righteousness in this case means right
relatedness to God through Christ. In the moral sense, no human
is ever righteous. By faith in Christ he is made righteous by
putting on Christ's robe of righteousness.

PREACHING POSSIBILITIES
The Foolishness Of God
Need: There are times when we think God's ways are foolish.
God's ways and thoughts are not ours. His doings and sayings are
beyond our understanding. Divine plans seem to us preposterous
and impossible. We can identify with Peter's protest when Jesus,
who was just confessed to be Christ, announced he was going to
Jerusalem to suffer and die. Can the Son of God, the Messiah, be
subject to human abuse? Unthinkable! When Abraham was promised a
son in his old age, he laughed at the idea, for he knew it was
physically impossible for Sarah at age 90 to become pregnant. It
sounds ridiculous: just believe and you will be saved! The
situation calls for faith in the foolishness of God.
Outline: Faith in the foolishness of God --
a. Faith that God can do the impossible -- Lesson 1.
b. Faith that God wills the death of his Son -- Gospel.
c. Faith that by grace alone sinners are saved -- Lesson 2.

Gospel: Mark 8:31-38
1. What to do with your self. 8:34-38
Need: The thrust of today is to let the self go and do as it
pleases. Authors and speakers urge upon us self-affirmation,
self-realization and self-fulfillment.We hear little or nothing
about self-discipline or self-denial. One token of this is the
almost complete cessation of fasting among Christians during
Lent. We are told to do our own thing, to do what makes us feel
good regardless of consequences.
Outline: What Jesus teaches we should do with ourselves --
a. Deny the self -- v. 34.
b. Lose the self -- v. 35.
c. Crucify the self -- v. 34.
2. Life is a terrible thing to waste. 8:35-36
Need: For years the United Negro College Fund has had as its
slogan, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." A tragedy of life
is to waste this precious, once-in-a-lifetime life. Jesus called
Judas Iscariot a "son of perdition." "Perdition" means "waste."
Judas Iscariot was one who wasted his life and Jesus said it
would have been better if he had not been born. Life can add up
to zero. Jesus taught that when we try to save our lives, we lose
or waste them. It is in losing one's life in service to Christ
that one reaps abundant life.
Outline: In this text we see --
a. The possibility of wasting one's life -- v. 36.
b. The necessity of investing one's life -- v. 35.
3. Do you have the right idea of the Christian life? 8:31-38
Need: Many church members have the wrong idea of Christ and
the Christian life. For them to be a Christian is to have skies
always blue and to have a perpetual rose garden of life. Peter
had the wrong conception of Christ. When Jesus announced his
intention to go to Jerusalem to suffer and die, Peter rebuked
him. He claimed that this was no way for the Messiah, the Son of
God, to act. He thought of Christ in terms of glory, not in terms
of a cross. In like manner, many think of a Christian as one who
has good luck and easy times because one believes in God.
Outline: Are you disappointed --
a. In Jesus as a suffering servant -- vv. 31-33.
b. In the Christian way of life? -- vv. 34-38.

Lesson 1: Genesis 17:1-10, 15-19
1. No laughing matter. 17:15-19
Need: We all enjoy a good laugh, but not all laughter is good.
It is good to laugh with people, but not at them. Who would ever
think of laughing at God? Both Abraham and Sarah were guilty of
it. When they were told that at their old age they would have a
son, both of them laughed at the idea. They were ordered to name
the child Isaac, meaning "laughter." Every time they called him
by name, their shame of laughing at God must have been renewed.
Though Abraham is known as a man of faith, there are times when
faith falters and doubt triumphs. That happens to us, too.
Outline: God is no laughing matter because --
a. Nothing is too hard for God -- 18:14.
b. God is God and not man -- 17:8.
c. God can be trusted -- 17:7.
2. Making a deal with God. 17:1-10, 15-19
Need: How many of us would like to make a deal with God?
Making a deal with God is called in the Bible a covenant. Always
God makes an offer to humankind with promises and the human
responds with promises to God. These promises are legalized when
the seal is placed upon the agreement. Today you can make a deal
or a new deal with God by entering or renewing a covenant.

Outline: The components of a covenant --
a. What God will do for you -- vv. 2-7.
1. Hope for the future.
2. Identify as one of God's people.
3. Sense of belonging to God.
b. What you will do for God.
1. Walk with God -- v. 1.
2. Be blameless -- v. 1.
3. Keep his covenant -- v. 10.

Lesson 2: Romans 4:13-25
1. Our father of faith. 4:13-25
Need: One of our deepest needs is faith. With the disciples we
pray, "Help our unbelief." We sing, "O for a faith that will not
shrink." Abraham is known as a man of great faith, our father in
faith. A look at his faith will help us to follow in his steps of
faith.
Outline: What faith can be --
a. Faith accepts the promise of grace -- v. 16.
b. Faith hopes when it is hopeless -- vv. 18-19.
c. Faith believes God can do what he promises -- v.21.
2. Count me in! 4:22-25
Need: Who wants to die? Who wants to go to hell? Who does not
want to live in perfect peace and love for eternity? To have this
desire met is to be in harmony with God, for he holds the key to
life and love through eternity. We all want to go to heaven and
to be counted in the group accepted for heaven. To be counted in
is only by the grace of God in Christ and to receive this grace
requires faith in Christ.
Outline: Count me in because --
a. God gives me the necessary faith -- v. 24.
b. God reckons me as his child -- v. 23.
c. God provides me with righteousness -- vv. 22, 25.