SCRIPTURE READING

GENESIS 18: 11-14

GENESIS 21: 1-8
 COUNTING YEARS
AND
COUNTING BLESSINGS
• The Lord appear to Abraham
six times in Genesis.

• When God called Abraham,

Abraham moved out in faith from
UR to Haran and finally to Canaan.
• God established a covenant with Abraham.
 He make Abraham a Great Nation.

1. Not only would His nation be blessed,

God said, but the other Nations of the earth
would be blessed through his descendants.
 Through Abraham’s family tree,
Jesus Christ was
born to save
humanity.
 Through Christ,
people can have a
personal relationship
with God and be blessed
beyond measure.
 God promised to bless Abraham and make
him famous, but God had one condition:

ABRAHAM HAD TO DO WHAT

GOD WANTED HIM TO DO.
I. COUNTING YEARS
Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken
in age; and it ceased to be with
Sarah after the
manner of women.
(Genesis 18:11-14)
• At this time Abraham is about 100 years old.
And Sarah is 90 years old. (Genesis 17:17)

• And I will bless her and give you a son from

her! Yes I will bless her richly and she will
become the mother of many nations. Kings of
Nations will be among her descendants. (Genesis 17:
16-17)
• Then Abraham bowed down to the ground but
he laughed to himself in disbelief. (Vs. 17)
• How could I become a father at the age of 100?

• And how can Sarah have a baby when she is

ninety years old.
 How could Abraham doubt God?

1. Physical change has affected their bodies.

• Sarah has stopped her monthly cycles/after the

manner of women.
• People of the ancient world knew, as we know
today, that a woman in this stage of her life no
longer becomes pregnant.

Therefore Sarah laughed within herself saying after I

am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my Lord being
old also? (Genesis 18:12)
 Sarah has been a woman of faith, having
followed Abraham, when he left Haran. (Genesis
12:4-5)

• At this point however her faith falters.

• Not only does she doubt her body’s ability to

achieve pregnancy, she doubts her husband’s
ability to impregnate her. It is from lack of faith.
• And the Lord said unto Abraham, wherefore
did Sarah laugh saying, shall I of a surety bear
a child, which I am old?

• Is anything too hard for the Lord? (Vs. 14)

• Can God give a child to an elderly couple?..

YES!
• If we believe in God, we can easily answer the
question, Is anything too hard for the Lord?

• Nothing is too hard for the Lord to accomplish.

(Jeremiah 32: 17, 27)

• O sovereign Lord! You made heavens and earth

by your strong hand and powerful arm. (Vs.
17)
 Jeremiah trusted God.

 It was not easy for David to believe that he

would become King of Israel, even after he was
anointed but he trusted God. (1 Samuel 16-31)

 It was not easy for Moses to believe that he and

his people would escape Egypt, even after God
spoke in him from a burning bush. But he
trusted God.(Exodus 3: 1-4)
• Mary gave a simple response of obedient faith.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me

according to thy word. (Luke 1:38)
 It is not easy for us to believe that God can
fulfill his impossible promises either, but we
must trust
him.

For with God nothing shall be impossible.

(Luke 1:37)
II. COUNTING BLESSINGS

Count your blessings, name them one by one.

(Genesis 21: 1-8)

 A promise son is born.

(Vs. 1-2)
• And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and
the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken.

• For Sarah conceived and bare Abraham a son in

his old age, at the set time of which God had
spoken to him.
• God is present in Sarah’s life to fulfill His
promise and the result is a miraculous
pregnancy.

• But this is still a supernatural event – a

conception, gestation and birth that science
cannot explain.

• Sarah’s monthly cycles had stopped.

 Promised Son
is named.
(Vs. 3-5)
• The boy is named Isaac which means laugh.

• God’s promise – keeping has the providential

side effect of giving an elderly childless couple
the joy of their hearts.
 Promised son
brings joy.
(Vs. 6-8)
CONCLUSION

Hebrews 10:23

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith

without wavering for He is faithful that
promised.

What the Lord says He will do…

Just trust him wholeheartedly.