OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS

The Old Testament texts for this Sunday explore the question of whether anything is too difficult for God. This question is central to the story of Sarah's miraculous birth in  Genesis 18:1-15; 21:1-7, while Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19 is a song of thanksgiving, which celebrates the fact that indeed nothing is beyond God's reach.

Genesis 18:1-15 (21:1-7) - "Is Anything Too Difficult for God?"
Setting.  The Old Testament lesson for this Sunday is a familiar miracle story about the birth of Isaac. Nevertheless, its setting in the larger context of the book of Genesis may help to see more clearly how this is a story about God and Sarah, which focuses on the question of whether God is reliable. The promise of an heir frames the ancestral stories in Genesis. It is introduced in  …