NIkki North - March 15, 2026
Laughter and tears
Genesis 21 Any child’s birth is a miracle of life. Abraham and Sarah had waited for a miracle when they were unable to conceive in their old age. All God’s promises to bless the world through their offspring would pass on to this child. She can’t believe her joy at his birth! In that part of the world, owning a well was important for survival. Abraham does what he can to secure peace in the area and a well to give his son Isaac a secure future. Family is a wonderful gift. Family can also be complex and sad. Abraham’s older son from Hagar mocked Sarah's son. For Abraham, a split between his son and his wife pained him. Sarah bitterly discarded Hagar and Ismael and Abraham barely gave them enough to live on. Hagar left Ishmael to die as she wept…until God intervened. The promise of a child had come true, but this family hardly felt like a blessing to Hagar. Only in Jesus, the heir of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, would these promises fully come true. For more about Christ Central Church Portsmouth visit: https://christcentral.church Or via socials: www.facebook.com/christcentral.ch www.instagram.com/christcentralchurchportsmouth To connect with us email: hello@christcentral.church or give us your details at https://www.christcentral.church
From Series: "Genesis - God's people in God's plan"
The Bible has clear instructions in parts, but most of it is story. Stories of people messing up. Stories of people discovering God’s grace. Stories we can learn wisdom from. The middle bit of Genesis tells the story of three generations who discover what it means to be God’s people in God’s plan for his world. And they don’t always get it right. Their stories include: marriage problems, death and grief, parenting struggles, choosing a spouse, sexual immorality, deception, reproductive ethics, unjust employers, relationships that distort God’s design, the strength of friendship, birth, infertility, abuse, betrayal, forgiveness, aging, value of life from womb to tomb, loneliness, racism, politics, war, buying land, wealth management, and learning wisdom from all the ambiguity of ordinary life trying to trust God in a fallen world. We face many issues in life where we have to ask: What does it mean to be God’s people in this? What’s God’s plan for it?
