Here is a link to Pastor Jim’s 3/29 message on Jesus in the Old Testament; Tower of Babel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07TFoNvAVEQ&t=7s

Home Worship Guide for March 22, 2020
Jesus: The True and Better Noah
Gen 6:9-8:22; John 3:16; 2 Cor 5:21

Introduction:
Weeks ago, Pastor Jim asked me to come and preach to you about Noah in the book of
Genesis. I cannot be with you today, but I can share with you some ideas to help you
worship as a family.

Opening Prayer:
Holy Father, we come together to worship you this morning. You are the Great God of
heaven and earth and you have made yourself known to us in your Word and through
your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank you for the gift of your presence with us as we worship
you. Teach us through the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Video: Search for “True and Better” on the internet. You will find a YouTube video to
watch together https://youtu.be/IGFtfqgBQkM

Devotional:
All of us are now experiencing disruption to our normal way of living. It is important for
us to listen to what our Governor and health officials are telling us, and to obey their
instructions. Staying at home for a time will help to keep us, and others, healthy. It is
also an opportunity to learn together. Today we will be learning about Noah from the
book of Genesis in the Bible.
Open your Bibles to Genesis 6:9-8:22 and read the account together.
The account of Noah is difficult for us. God displays his power to judge evil in the world
by sending a flood to wipe out humanity. This act of judgment seems cruel and may
cause us to question the nature of God. It is easy to read this account and then say, as
many people do, “If God can be this cruel, I don’t want anything to do with him!”
We can feel this way because we do not fully understand who God is, and we do not
fully understand how evil sin is. God is completely different than we are. We use the
word “holy” to describe how God is totally different. God is not just a great big and old
person, he is a different kind of being. We do not get to tell God who he should be, he
simply is who he is, and he is holy. This word “holy” also means that God is perfect in
all he does, he is not capable of doing wrong. We are not like God in this respect, we
are very capable of doing wrong things.
When God made Adam and Eve he placed them in a wonderful garden, but he told
them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God did not want
Adam and Eve to decide what was good and what was evil, he knew that he alone could

make those decisions. But Adam and Eve ate from that tree because they
wanted to replace God as the one who makes final decisions. This was the beginning
of sin and rebellion against God.
By the time Noah was born people all over had also chosen to rebel against God. It
was time for God to judge their rebellion. This is why the account of Noah’s time is so
hard for us, it is not a fun story. It teaches us that God is very serious about sin.
But it also teaches us that God is the one who is working to fix our problem with sin.
God, in his grace, decided to save Noah, his family, and animals from the flood. Why
did God do this? Because God is not only holy, but he is also loving.
Noah is an example to us of someone who listened to God and obeyed. But there is a
true and better example. Jesus is God’s gift of love to all people. The Bible says, “For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
God knows that we are all rebels like the people of Noah’s day. But he promised Noah
that he would never again send a flood to judge the world. Instead he sent his Son,
Jesus, who lived a sinless. Jesus never sinned, but he chose to die for us on the cross
so that our sin could be forgiven. The Bible tells us, “God made Jesus who had no sin
to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21).
Noah obeyed God, but Jesus is the true and better Noah whose obedience goes further.
Jesus’ obedience purchased eternal life for rebels like you and like me.
What does it mean for you that Jesus is the true and better Noah? Take a few minutes
to talk about your own experience of Jesus as the one who has taken your sin on
himself.

Sing Together – Holy, Holy, Holy – Audrey Assad, YouTube video, sing along or simply
watch and listen https://youtu.be/AgHrNNM23p8

Closing Prayer:
Most Holy Father, we are your children, for that we give you praise and thanks. You
have given us new life in your Son Jesus Christ, a gift given freely that we cannot repay.
We owe you our very lives. We understand that you are in control. You are the
sovereign King of heaven and earth. The world is in chaos right now, and our lives are
disrupted. We confess to you that we are confused and frightened. But we also know
that you have promised to keep us in your Son, Jesus, no matter what circumstances
we face. The Bible says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in
trouble. Therefore we will not fear, through the earth give way and the mountains fall
into the heart of the sea” (Ps 46:1-2). We pray for your protection and intervention. We
pray for our leaders to have wisdom in this crisis. Give us, your children, the wisdom to
obey you and listen to those who guide us at this time. We pray for courage and
strength in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Home Worship Guide for March 15, 2020

Jesus: Our Warrior Champion

(Genesis 3:15 & Colossians 1 & 2)

PRAYING TOGETHER

Our gracious God and King. “If You were to mark our iniquities who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You that You may be awesomely worshiped.” (Ps. 13:3 JLV) Father You see and hear us. You know each of us better than we know ourselves. And yet, You love us even when we seem bent on seeking life outside of You and Your will for us. This morning we spread out everything before You–our cares, that You would care for them–our anxious worries that You would calm them–our hopes and dreams that Your will would be done and not ours, and our plans that You would purify them. Especially, we spread out our sins that You would forgive them. O Lord, You are great and exalted above all. Show mercy on all who cry out to you in sickness and in crisis. Make of us faithful witnesses as Your ambassadors of grace. This is Your glory that You do not forget us, abandon us nor reject us in spite of all that speaks against us. In Your Son Jesus you have given us nothing less than Yourself and through His Sacrifice graciously forgiven us. Thank you for Jesus who taught to pray saying, “Our Father….” (Mtt.6:9-13)

READING THE BIBLE TOGETHER

1Samuel 17 (The David & Goliath Story)

Genesis 3:15 (The Curse upon the Serpent & A Promise Champion)

SINGING TOGETHER

Is He Worthy?

Sing along with Chris Tomlin (Lyric Video)

DEVOTIONAL BASED ON GENESIS 3:15 & 1Samuel 17

Jesus: God’s Gracious Champion for the World

When we think of the word “champion” we think of the winner of an athletic contest. Yet, ancient history records a battle called a Champion Warfare Battle. In such a contest the outcome is determined by a single combat, an individual duel between the best soldier (a “champion”) from each opposing army. This way, entire armies would not be sacrificed to determine the victor. One famous Champion Warfare Battle was that waged between David and Goliath. The nine feet tall Goliath challenged Israel’s army by calling her to send a champion into a battle to the death. Goliath stood in place of the Philistine nation. David stood in Israel’s place. The prevailing champion would win for his nation, the outright subjugation of the loser’s nation. Aware of their helplessness before the gargantuan warrior Israel’s soldiers trembled with fear. However David declared, “The LORD who delivered me from the lion and the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1Sam.17:37) Although physically outmatched and mocked by his brothers,

king Saul sent young David into the battle as Israel’s champion. To frighten David, Goliath jeered, “I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and beast of the field.” (1Sam.17:44) David countered, “You come to me with a sword, spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, who you have taunted.” (1Sam.17:45) When the giant drew near, David picked out one smooth stone from his bag and slung it from his leather sling. It struck Goliath and sank deep into his forehead. With one blow, Goliath fell dead at David’s feet. “The battle belongs to the LORD.” (1Sam.17:47) Young David championed Israel’s helpless and hopeless cause before the giant. David defeated Goliath and God gave the Philistines into Israel’s hands. One man saved the nation. The episode wonderfully foreshadows the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Warrior Champion, the One who has decisively triumphed over our helplessness and hopelessness caused by our sin and over the enemy of our souls.

Pastor Jim has taught us that the beginning of the Bible is clarified by the ending. The acorn of the gospel embedded in Genesis (cf. Gal.3:8) becomes a massive oak tree in the New Testament. God’s curse upon the serpent in Genesis 3:15 established the hope of a coming Warrior Champion who would execute (“strike”) a fatal blow to the serpent (Satan) who swayed humanity to join him in rebellion against the LORD God. In the process the wicked serpent would “strike his [Our Champion] heal.” At the cross, Satan did his worst. And yet, his worst and most vicious attack only made the LORD Jesus better and stronger. On the third day Jesus, our Warrior Champion rose from the dead not only defeating Satan but also defeating death itself. And this one victorious blow executed on the cross becomes the triumph of grace for all who believe in the Lord Jesus.

Jesus: The Champion Warrior in Colossians

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. “ (Col.1:13)

“21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through [His]death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.” (Col.1:21-22)

“having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross! 15And having disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Col. 2:14-15)

Additional New Testament verses alluding to the prophecy of a Warrior Champion who has come to save us from the pretender and usurper of the Lord God’s sovereign authority over all creation. (Rom.16:20; Jn. 8:39-47; 8:56-59; 2Cor.11:3,14; Rev.12:9; 20:22)

“By this we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all…He having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time sat down at the right hand of God.” (Heb.9:10, 12)

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow!

CLOSING PRAYER