Mission Impossible
Faith of Our Fathers
July 17, 2022
Rev. Paul Deschamps
The sermon explores Genesis 17's everlasting covenant with Abraham, showing how circumcision—made extraordinary by God—calls God's people to remember, obey, and pursue heart-level transformation amid a culture drifting from Christian roots.
Summary
Using Genesis 17, the preacher highlights God's everlasting covenant with Abram/Abraham and the sign of circumcision, explaining how an ordinary practice is sanctified as a reminder of God's promise and an invitation to belonging and obedience. The sermon notes the author's use of a chiasm to focus the audience, connects corporate memory (illustrated by Quebec's preservation of language and history) with the need to remember covenant obligations, and traces how the meaning of circumcision moves from a physical mark in the Old Testament to a spiritual reality in the New. It also addresses the church's cultural challenges—questions of justice and relevance—and ends with a call to trust God's power to transform signs (and hearts) so believers can join God in restoring a broken world.
Key Points
- Focus: Genesis 17 and God's everlasting covenant with Abram/Abraham
- Key sign: Circumcision made ordinary into extraordinary as a covenant reminder
- Literary note: The author uses a chiasm to concentrate the message and imagery
- Theological development: OT physical circumcision points to an NT spiritual reality—heart transformation over external ritual
- Past and memory: Like Quebec preserving its history, believers must remember God's covenant and their identity
- Contemporary application: The church struggles with justice, cultural relevance, and remembering its roots
- Mission: Christians are invited to join God in restoring the world through obedience and transformed hearts
- Hope: God can transform ordinary or even ugly signs (circumcision, cross) into lasting reminders of grace and miracle
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