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Where are you going? (Genesis 16:1-16)

Mark BarnesMark Barnes, July 17, 2011
Part of the Genesis series, preached at a Sunday Evening service

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https://www.bethel-clydach.co.uk/sermons/?show&file_name=2011-07-17-pm.mp3 Download
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« For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. What are spiritual gifts? Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. »

Genesis 16 (Listen)

16:1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5 And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

7 The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the LORD said to her,

  “Behold, you are pregnant
    and shall bear a son.
  You shall call his name Ishmael,
    because the LORD has listened to your affliction.
12   He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
    his hand against everyone
    and everyone’s hand against him,
  and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

13 So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

(ESV)

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Food for Thought
Isn’t Clydach a great place to live? It’s good isn’t it to meet with friends and have opportunities for strengthening our ties with each other? Bethel wants to help us do just this. Food for Thought is an hour long monthly lunch where we share a meal together, and listen to a short talk allowing…
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Colin’s story

“Unlike alcohol, success or sport, turning to Jesus has brought me true and lasting happiness”

Being Detective Sergeant in the Drugs Squad was challenging work and I spent a lot of time in pubs and clubs where the drug users were. I knew the drug users never found happiness through taking drugs — indeed, many ended their lives. It was such a contrast to the young people at Bethel, whose faces radiated such joy and happiness. Then at a New Year’s Eve service, I heard these words of Jesus: "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest". I accepted Jesus as my personal Saviour there and then, and became a new person. My life had changed. I used to drink and I enjoyed smoking but I no longer wanted to do those things and gave them up immediately. What God had given me was so much more wonderful than anything the world had to offer. I went for a walk on the first morning of 1978 and I remember breathing in the pure fresh air and thinking how wonderful creation was. It was a new year and I was a new person.
Read more of Colin’s story

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