By Derek Westmoreland Senior Pastor, Hopewell Baptist Church, Savannah Focal Passage:  Genesis 21:1-8 God’s promise is fulfilled.  It had been two years since the Lord promised a son to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-4, 21:5). After 13 years the Lord reminded Abraham that He had not forgotten His promise. Then 24 years after originally revealing to Abraham that he would have numerous descendants, God revealed that Sarah would give birth. In verse

By Derek Westmoreland Senior Pastor, Hopewell Baptist Church, Savannah Focal Passage: Genesis 18:20-25; 19:12-16 Wickedness brings attention. Sodom and Gomorrah were known for their rampant sexual sin that flowed from a complete rebellion against the ways of the Lord (Genesis 13:13). The sins were public and the guilty were unrepentant. The iniquities of those in Sodom provoked the Lord to respond in verse 21. God responds as we should. He

By Derek Westmoreland Senior Pastor, Hopewell Baptist Church, Savannah Focal Passage: Genesis 17:1-8, 15-22 God made His covenant with Abram for the first time in chapter 12. In chapter 15, the Lord reminded Abram that He would keep His covenant and now we learn in chapter 17, that God again confirms His covenant with Abram. According to verse 1, Abram was 99 years old. That confirms that Abram is 14

By Derek Westmoreland Senior Pastor, Hopewell Baptist Church, Savannah Focal Passage: Genesis 15:1-7, 13-16 So far in our journey through Genesis we have addressed God’s creation, the institution of marriage and family, the first murder, the fall and its repercussions, the flood and its judgment, the scattering of the people and finally God establishing His covenant with Abram. Now we see Abram waiting for the promises of the covenant to

By Derek Westmoreland Senior Pastor, Hopewell Baptist Church, Savannah Focal Passage: Genesis 12:1-9 As chapter 12 begins, we find Abram who was introduced in chapter 11 (v. 26) pushed to the forefront of the story. In verses 1-9 Abram is called to leave his place of comfort for the land God promises to give to him and his descendants. It is the spiritual picture of one leaving their old way

By Derek Westmoreland Senior Pastor, Hopewell Baptist Church, Savannah Focal Passage: Genesis 11:1-9 It is a humbling situation (i.e. foreign land) when you cannot verbally communicate with those around you. In Genesis 11:1-9 we find God responding to the rebellion of man by confusing their language. As a result of what happened that day, we now have well over 6,000 languages on planet earth. I. The nature of man is

By Derek Westmoreland Senior Pastor, Hopewell Baptist Church, Savannah Focal Passage: Genesis 8:15-22; 9:1, 11-16 I. God directed. The flood waters had receded but Noah had not yet received permission to disembark the ark. Noah did not know what to do next and then in Genesis 8:15-19 the Lord provided permission to exit and provided instruction for Noah. The Lord commanded him first to leave the ark with his wife,

By Derek Westmoreland Senior Pastor, Hopewell Baptist Church, Savannah Focal Passage: Genesis 6:11-18, 7:11-14 I. The earth is corrupt. Verse 11 says, “Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence (NASU). The earth refers to the people living on earth. The earth was corrupt. Violence was common and violent acts follow corrupt hearts. Everywhere Noah looked he saw sin. It was

By Derek Westmoreland Senior Pastor, Hopewell Baptist Church, Savannah Focal Passage: Genesis 3:1-7, 14-19 I. Temptation. In verse 1a the serpent tempted Eve. As the devil (Revelation 12:9, 20:2) tempted Eve, he began in verse 1 by addressing her intellect when he said “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The devil implied that if God really loved Eve, He would be more

Derek Westmoreland Senior Pastor of Hopewell Baptist Church, Savannah Focal Passage: Genesis 2:4-9, 5-18 In Genesis 2:4 we find a new reference to “God.” In Genesis 1:1 – 2:3 we find the word “Elohim” in the Hebrew which is translated “God.” The word refers to God as the Creator. In Genesis 2:4, we find the phrase “LORD God.” “God” is the Hebrew word Elohim, while “LORD” in all capitals comes