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Abram has a son by Hagar

Abram tries to fulfil God's promise his way.
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Abram had a vision and heard the Lord say to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I will shield you from danger and give you a great reward. <br/>But Abram answered, ‘Sovereign Lord, what good will your reward do me, since I have no children. My inheritance will go to one of my slaves. <br/>God replied, ‘Your own son will be your heir.’ – Slide 1
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The Lord took him outside and said, ‘Look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendants as that.’ <br/>Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased and accepted him. <br/>The Lord said to him, ‘I am the Lord, who led you out of Ur in Babylonia, to give you this land as your own.’ – Slide 2
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But as time went by, Abram and Sarai did not have children of their own. It seemed Abram would not have an heir. <br/>Sarai had an Egyptian slave woman named Hagar, and so she said to Abram, ‘The Lord has kept me from having children. Perhaps she can have your child for me.’ – Slide 3
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Abram went along with this plan, and Hagar became pregnant. When she found out that she was expecting Abraham’s baby, she became proud and looked down on Sarai who could not have children. – Slide 4
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Sarai said to Abram, ‘It's your fault that Hagar despises me. I gave her to you, and ever since she found out that she was pregnant, she has despised me. May the Lord judge which of us is right, you or me!’ <br/>Abram answered, ‘Very well, she is under your control; do whatever you want with her.’ Then Sarai treated Hagar so cruelly that she ran away. – Slide 5
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Hagar fled down the desert road to Shur and stopped by a well in distress. <br/>An Angel of the Lord appeared to her in said, ‘Hagar, where have you come from and where are you going?’ <br/>She answered, ‘I am running away from my mistress.’ <br/>The Angel replied, ‘Go back to Sarai and obey her. I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them.’ – Slide 6
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‘You are going to have a son, and you will name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’). The Lord has heard your cry of distress. But your son will live like a wild donkey and be against everyone. Everyone will be against him. He will live apart from all his relatives.’ <br/>From this time onwards Hagar called the Lord, ‘A God Who Sees.’ <br/>And the well was renamed, ‘The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.’ – Slide 7
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Hagar bore Abram a son, and he named him Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old at the time. – Slide 8
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Ishmael grew up as part of Abram’s family but Abram and Sarai did not have children of their own. <br/>‘When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord, said, ‘I promise that you will be the ancestor of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham (which means ‘ancestor of many nations’). You will have so many descendants that they will become nations and some will become kings. You must no longer call your wife Sarai; from now on her name is Sarah (which sounds like ‘Ancestor of many nations in Hebrew). I will give you a son by her and she will become the mother of nations, and kings.’ – Slide 9
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Abraham bowed down with his face touching the ground, but he began to laugh when he thought, ‘Can a man have a child when he is a hundred years old? Can Sarah have a child at ninety?’ <br/>He asked God, ‘Why not let Ishmael be my heir?’ <br/>But God said, ‘No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will name him Isaac. I will keep my promises with you and Isaac and with his descendants forever. It is an everlasting covenant. <br/>I have also heard your request about Ishmael, so I will bless him and give him many children and many descendants.’ – Slide 10
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