Lent is a time of preparation. As we prepare for the resurrection, we take time to consider the dark day of the crucifixion. It is not coincidence that there are 40 days of Lent just as it rained for 40 days in the story of Noah. The first week we are going to look deeply into the story of God's commandment to Noah. Next week we will introduce the book Noah Built His Ark In the Sunshine. Then we will spend the 6 weeks of Lent considering how God is calling us to prepare for the storms in our own lives and how we can each Build the Ark of Spiritual Strength.
Each week, I will send out an e-mail with scripture and a thought about what we will study that Sunday. Please feel free to invite a friend to this powerful study.
First Week of February
God Calls Noah
Bible Reference
Genesis 6
14 -16 "Build yourself a ship from teakwood. Make rooms in it. Coat it with pitch inside and out. Make it 450 feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. Build a roof for it and put in a window eighteen inches from the top; put in a door on the side of the ship; and make three decks, lower, middle, and upper.
17 "I'm going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven. Total destruction.
18 -21 "But I'm going to establish a covenant with you: You'll board the ship, and your sons, your wife and your sons' wives will come on board with you. You are also to take two of each living creature, a male and a female, on board the ship, to preserve their lives with you: two of every species of bird, mammal, and reptile—two of everything so as to preserve their lives along with yours. Also get all the food you'll need and store it up for you and them."
22 Noah did everything God commanded him to do.
Genesis 7
1 Next God said to Noah, "Now board the ship, you and all your family—out of everyone in this generation, you're the righteous one.
2 -4 "Take on board with you seven pairs of every clean animal, a male and a female; one pair of every unclean animal, a male and a female; and seven pairs of every kind of bird, a male and a female, to insure their survival on Earth. In just seven days I will dump rain on Earth for forty days and forty nights. I'll make a clean sweep of everything that I've made." 5 Noah did everything God commanded him.
Questions?
What similarities do you see between God's call of Noah and the season of Lent?
What questions do we ask of God when thinking about Noah's Ark?
If you want to do more:
Think about or watch a movie that makes references to Noah's Ark. What stand's out to you about "Noah's" Call?
Some Examples are:
The Flood
Evan Almighty
Wall-E
