Forming Faith Blog

God Calls Abram (Genesis 12)

Posted on September 9 2026 by Gregory Rawn

God chose Abram and Sarai to carry God’s promise, blessing them to eventually bless the entire world. Following God’s call is an act of faith.

Photo by cottonbro studio
About the Story

This passage marks the beginning of a new way in which God interacted with the world, through the blessing of a particular family. It all started with one man, Abram, and his wife, Sarai (later renamed Abraham and Sarah). When we first meet Abram and Sarai, they are childless. At this time, childlessness would have been considered a curse. A woman’s status and a man’s legacy rested on them raising up heirs. Abram and Sarai had already passed childbearing years. But God’s plans for blessing in this story were beyond what would be humanly possible.

God called Abram and Sarai to leave their homeland and trust an amazing promise that God would make of them a great nation—that through their family all the families of the earth would be blessed. In fact, Abram and Sarai went 25 years between the initial promise of God and the birth of their son, Isaac. A lot happened in the meantime.

During those 25 years, God’s promise seemed to be in constant jeopardy. Abram and Sarai traveled to Egypt and to Gerar, where Abram’s attempts at self-protection led them into some sticky situations. Abram went to war to rescue Lot. They witnessed the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abram and Sarai even became so desperate for this promise to come true that they enlisted a surrogate mother in Sarai’s servant, Hagar. In each of these actions, they sought to take the promise into their own hands, and they were reminded repeatedly that fulfillment of God’s promises takes place by God’s hand alone. Despite their doubts and fears, they are lifted up as two of our greatest ancestors in the faith.

In the Bible, when God comes to people and asks them to do great things, we often say that people have received a “calling.” Abram’s calling is important because it lays the foundation for creating the community of God’s people that will exist throughout the rest of the biblical narrative. God was faithful to the promise God made to Abram. In fact, God’s blessing to Abram extends even to us who claim Abram as an ancestor in faith and not in blood. God is the source of blessing and the keeper of promises. 

God’s promise to Abram was a blessing not only for himself but also for the whole world to be blessed through him. How is it that we also are blessed by God in order to be blessings to those around us? (Adapted from Living the Word: Small Groups)

Context Insights

The following are a few insights found in our background resource Living the Word: Contexts & Connections.

  • Linguistics: The Hebrew root brk (bless/blessing/blessed in English) occurs no less than five times in the first three verses of today’s passage. Biblical authors often repeated a root word within a short period of time to emphasize its importance. This root word describes both the request for and the results of a blessing, whether initiated by God or humans.
  • Culture/Religion: The writers and audience of the Hebrew Bible believed that blessings and curses had real and powerful effects on those who received them. Both were believed to have the ability to change situations, alter circumstances, and transform relationships. “Bless” and “curse” often appear together throughout the Bible to outline the consequences of keeping or not keeping the covenant with God and with each other.
  • Authorial Intention/Occasion: Today’s story serves as the foundation, or beginning, of Israel’s history. The authors of this story show that Israel’s beginning depends completely on God and God’s initiative. Whether in the Promised Land or in exile, the authors show that Israel depends on the promise and action of God.
Connections and Suggestions

We have Narrative Lectionary resources for 2026-2027 for all age groups. Here are a few activity summaries you can use. The full activity descriptions and much more are available in the product noted. 

  • Kids: Gather take-out or party-favor boxes and various decoration supplies. Help students cut a slit in the top so that they can add slips of paper later. Encourage them to decorate the boxes as they wish. When they are finished decorating, provide slips of paper and pens or pencils to students, have them write one of God’s blessings, and then place the paper in their Blessing Box. Challenge students to bring their box home, add blessings as they (and their families) see them throughout their day, and say prayers of thanksgiving for God’s blessings. (From Living the Word: Kids (3rd-6th))
  • Youth: Provide ingredients for trail mix (nuts, cereals, dried fruit, small candies, etc.) with alternatives in case of food allergies. Have youth create their own trail mix and discuss travels they have experienced. Connect this to the traveling that Abram and Sarai did. (From Living the Word: Youth)
  • Intergenerational worship: Provide large craft sticks and markers for worshippers. Invite them to write words or draw images that represent their hopes for themselves, their families, their community, and the world. Have them share their words and images with someone near them. Then, have them bring their craft sticks to a central location to build an altar, like Abram and Sarai made altars in response to the hope God gave them. (From Living the Word: Cross+Gen Worship)
Daily Bible Readings

Throughout both the Narrative Lectionary year (roughly September through May) and the summer, we have created a daily Bible lectionary that corresponds with the Narrative Lectionary readings. These readings are used throughout our NL products, and you can subscribe to them digitally through our Daily Readings Calendar.

DateDayLectionTitle
9/20/2026SundayGenesis 12:1-9God Calls Abram
9/21/2026MondayGenesis 18:1-15The Promise Is Given Again
9/22/2026TuesdayGenesis 21:1-8The Promised Child Is Born
9/23/2026WednesdayGenesis 25:19-34The Quarreling Brothers: Jacob and Esau
9/24/2026ThursdayGenesis 33:1-15The Reconciled Brothers: Jacob and Esau
9/25/2026FridayGenesis 37:1-24Joseph’s Dreams
9/26/2026SaturdayGenesis 37:25-36The Dreamer in Trouble
9/27/2026SundayGenesis 39:1-23Joseph’s Hope
Previous Posts

This is our blog’s third go-around in the Narrative Lectionary, Year 1. Here are some previous posts on this particular passage if you are interested:

I hope you find this all useful! If you have any questions or feedback on this blog post (or anything else), comment on this post below or on Facebook, or send me a message.

In Christ,

Gregory Rawn (Publisher)

Order Faith Formation Resources

Do you still need resources for your 2026-2027 faith formation programming? Order program-year curriculum resources for the Narrative Lectionary (Year 1, 2026-2027), Revised Common Lectionary (Years A & B, 2026-2027), or Key Bible Stories (non-lectionary, PK-2nd, 3rd-6th).

New RCL faith-at-home resource!

I’m excited to announce a new product series for Spirit & Truth Publishing: Taking Faith Home. Taking Faith Home is a set of weekly devotional resources (often distributed as worship bulletin inserts) that follows the Revised Common Lectionary. We offer it as a Church Year (Dec. 2026 to Nov. 2027) and a Program Year (Sept. 2026 to May 2027). You can also purchase by quarter, such as Summer and Fall. Learn more here and read a review!

VBS, Events, Retreats, and More!

Are you looking for resources for topical Sunday school, family/intergenerational events, retreats, and more?

Learning Together can help! This series of affordable, five-lesson units on a variety of topics can be downloaded immediately, use basic supplies you probably already have, and are so easy to use that you can hand the leader’s guide out that day (though that’s not recommended)!

Like all of our faith formation resources, Learning Together is effective, theologically sound, and inclusive. The current topics are:

+ Paul’s Adventures (NEW!), Celebrations, Created to Care, God’s Gift of Water, Heroes of the Bible, The I AM Statements of Jesus (free!), Travelers (Immigrants and Refugees), Do Justice, Celebrations, Women of the Old Testament, and Bible 101

Building Faith has recommended two of our units as VBS curriculum: Paul’s Adventures (reviewed in 2026) and Celebrations (reviewed in 2025)!

You can also read outside reviews on both our Do Justice and Created to Care units.

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