On Sunday I invited my congregation to take few moments this week to go outside after dark and look up at the night sky.  Notice the stars and begin to count them.  Pretty soon you will lose track or simply be overwhelmed by how many are visible to you.  Think about how far space extends.  Is there an end point?  What is beyond that?  Are there any limits?

When God called Abram, later known as Abraham, to leave his home and his father -- everything familiar to him -- and go to a place God would show him, God promised that Abram and his heirs would inherit a new home.  Not only that, Abram's heirs would number more than the stars in the heavens.  You can read about this in Genesis 12.

I think this is an apt image for people of faith today.  Not that we'll have innumerable offspring and take over the world, but that the possibilities before us, because of God's love, are endless.  Just like the number of stars and the distance of space.

Our tendancy is to narrow things down, to make it all manageable, to think in terms too small.

This is played out in the church when we spend more time on organizational issues and business than we do on spiritual growth.  We are distracted by the smaller matters and miss the opportunities of larger concerns, namely a deepening relationship with God, and ministry in the name of Jesus Christ.

Abraham and his family were called to make God known, and to be a blessing to others.  

We are heirs of Abraham.  Look up at the night sky and remember what that means.