MNF - April 24th - Sarah a Woman of Faith

MNF

Lesson Notes on Sarah

4-24-2005

Order of Events:

1. Game Time – Hose and Tennis Ball

2. Snack and Fellowship

3. Song – Love the Lord your God 3 part round

4. Prayer Time

5. Lesson

Review:

We've embarked upon a new study of the Old Testament saints found in Hebrews 11. We've seen the faith of Abel and the faith of Enoch. We've seen the faith of Noah and of Abraham. Tonight we will look at the faith of Sarah.

Key Verse (to memorize): Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Intro Questions:

1. What's one the nicest things something has ever said to or about you?

2. Have you ever had a time when someone you knew was being praised or rewarded and you didn't think they deserved it?

3. Does God forgive and forget?

I think that Saddam Hussein is a good man. Would anyone care to disagree with me? Why? Does my opinion as your youth leader supersede the facts? No.

Let's read and discuss some passages about Sarah to see what the Bible tells us about her. (Hint: these passages will answer our four questions on the worksheet.)

• Genesis 12:1-6

• A promise of a son

• Sarai goes with her husband

• Genesis 12:10-20

• listens to Abram and says that she is his sister

• Genesis 16:1-6

• Sarai is barren

• Sarai offers Hagar to her husband to have children to fulfill the promise her own way

• She blames Abram for getting Hagar pregnant

• Sarai mistreats Hagar

• Genesis 17:15-16, 19

• Sarai renamed Sarah

• promise of a son confirmed to be through Sarah

• Genesis 18:9-15

• Sarah laughs at what the men tell Abraham about Sarah having a baby one year from today

• Sarah denies (lies) that she laughed

• Genesis 20

• Sarah does what Abraham says and tells people that she is his sister

• Genesis 21:1-13

• Sarah has a baby named Isaac (“he laughs”)

• Sarah praises the Lord

• Sarah has jealousy against Ishmael and tells Abraham to send them away

Optional 1 Peter 3:5-6 – Sarah obeyed her husband by saying that she was his sister

Overall how does the Bible portray Sarah? Do you think she is painted in a good light or a bad light?

After reading these passages, do you think Sarah should be in the hall of faith? If so what for?

Now let's read what God has to say about here in the Hall of Faith. Turn to Hebrews 11:11. What does he say?

God praises Sarah for being a woman of faith. She believed that God would keep his promise. God is not ashamed to be called her God.

But what about all those bad things she did? We read the stories; we know what kind of person she is. What do you think about that?

Well the truth is, it doesn't really matter what you think about Sarah. Only what God thinks about Sarah matters. And you know what, only what God thinks about you matters as well. God is pleased when we trust his promises and when we demonstrate faith no matter how small it seems.

Here's an encouraging verse:

Isaiah 43:25 – God will remember our sins no more. It's not that he forgets. When someone hurts you deeply you don't forget it, but you can choose not to remember it. You can choose to let it go and not dwell on it anymore.

“Even if we doubt we can be people of faith.”--Alison Wasser

So what can we learn from Sarah? How can we demonstrate faith this week?

Believe God's promises. God may not have promised that you would have a baby when you're ninety-some years old, but he has promised you other things. Provision – He will supply all your needs. Protection – nothing can happen to you that He doesn't want to happen. God also promises to remember our sins no more. They are forgiven.

Here's something else we can learn: Only what God thinks of us matters. Even though we may be tempted to please others and try and get them to like us, it doesn't matter what they think. God loves you and is pleased with you because you are His own dear child.

MNF - Abraham's Journey of Faith

Abraham: Journey of Faith to the City of God

April 18, 2005

*timeline from Shem to Abraham

*map of Abraham’s journey

1. Timeline
2. Tower of Babel (use maps)
3. Hebrews 11:8-10; 13-16
1. blind obedience shows faith
2. patience shows faith (waiting as strangers in Canaan)
3. the ultimate destination never reached; indicates that the ultimate journey was not to the land of Israel but to the heavenly city—paradise, Zion, promised land—and the author of Hebrews points out that Abraham was looking for the heavenly city
4. Genesis 12:1-4—the journey begins at age 75
1. the covenant of blessing
2. we are the covenant people who are the children of Abraham by faith—not by birth (Gal. 3:7, 9, 26-29)—the promises of blessing and inheritance (ultimate inheritance) are ours NOT those of Jewish descent
3. story of Brainerd Pres.’ pastor and the purchase of land
5. Like Abraham, his descendants (all believers) are called on a journey of faith to seek a city whose builder and maker is God. looking forward to our final destination will dramatically impact how we live our lives.
1. we’ll not be satisfied in the passing things of this world
2. sickness and pain and frustration will serve as reminders that this world is not our home
3. we will strive to please God

MNF - 4th Week

What is a fourth week?

About every four weeks the youth group takes a night off of studying the Bible to do a different kind of worship. We play games, eat food, and hang out. This is not merely to give the youth leaders a break, it's a purposeful time for all of us to get to know one another better. God delights in the fellowship of his children.

This week (weather pending):

• ultimate frisbee
• ultimate food
• ultimate fellowship

See you then.

MNF - April 4th

Lesson Notes on Noah

4-3-2005

MNF

Order of Events:

1. Game Time – Dodgeball or kickball

2. Snack and Fellowship

3. Noah Pop Quiz

4. Prayer Time

5. Lesson

6. Go home!

Noah Pop Quiz

1. How many people were in the ark?

2. How long was Moses in the ark?

3. How many of each type of animals were supposed to be kept in the ark?

4. What was the sign God gave to Noah as a promise?

5. T/F Noah was a vegetarian.

Review:

We've embarked upon a new study of the Old Testament saints found in Hebrews 11. We've seen the faith of Abel and the faith of Enoch. Today we look at the faith of Noah.

Key Verse (to memorize): Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Passages: Hebrews 11:7, Genesis 6-9, Ezekiel 14:14

Reading Hebrews 11:7

What do we find about Noah from this verse?

• Noah had faith

• He built an ark

• He saved his family

• He obeyed God

• He condemned the rest of the world

• He was made right in God's sight (righteous)

Let's review your pop quiz.

1. Eight people according to 1 Peter 3:20

2. Probably no longer than a couple of hours

3. Two of the regular types, seven of the clean animals

4. A rainbow

5. Yo. God permits the eating of meat after the flood.

Let's go back to the original story.

Genesis 6 tells us it's a bad time to be alive. Everyone's minds are fixed on doing evil all the time. It's so bad that the creator is sorry he created them and prepares to destroy them. BUT...Noah found favor with God. Read verse 6:9 and then tell me why Noah found favor with God.

Noah found favor with God because God had favor upon him. God has favor on who he wants to have favor upon. Although Noah was a very righteous man, especially during such a unrighteous time, he was still a sinner. God chose to have favor upon him. No one deserves God's favor.

Is God fair? Yo.

Did Noah deserved to be saved? No. Did Noah's sons and daughter-in-law's deserved to be saved? No.

So God comes to Noah and tells him of his plan, well actually part of his plan. He tells Noah that he's going to destroy all living creatures. Any animal rights activists out there? I mean what did the friendly Koala bear do anyway? What about Bambi or Eor? Is God fair?

Then he tells Noah to build a boat; not just any boat, a big boat! (Show picture of Carnival Cruise Liner and Ark.) This ark is roughly the size of the administration building at Bryan College. It's big, so big in fact, that if there had been boats before, none of them had been this big. (Show map of Noah's possible locations.) Then he's supposed to gather two of each animal and put them in the ark. This would be the time for Noah to check his hearing aid. I mean he is 500 years old. He better make sure he's not going crazy and just hearing things. What will Mrs. Noah think? What will his sons think? What will the neighbors think? Maybe he can tell them he's building a zoo. Yeah that will work.

Then God tells him that he is going to send a flood to destroy the whole earth. Every living thing will die (except fish and things) except Noah, his family, and the animals in the ark. Read verse 6:22. Noah did what God commanded him...exactly. It seems here than Noah, though he may not have understood everything, purposed to do what the Lord said despite the criticism he would receive from his family, friends, and others.

Getting real.

Noah is 500 years old when God approaches him about the ark. Noah spends the next 100 years building the ark. 100 years. That's a long, long time. Most of us won't live 100 years, let alone build a boat in the middle of nowhere for a hundred years. A lot can happen in 100 years. Then God comes to Noah and tells him he has one more week until the flood comes. Then it's 40 days and nights of rain; so much so that mounts Everest and K-2 are covered maybe even Dayton mountain. Then after another 150 days in the boat it finally rests in the mountains of Ararat (or mount). Then after another 40 days, Noah finally rolls down the window (unless he had power windows). Then he sends out a raven. Then another week a dove. It came back. Then another week and Noah sends out another dove and this one doesn't come back. Finally after 10.5 months, Noah opens the cover. Then two months later, when Noah is 601 years old, God tells Noah and his crew to disembark. That's over a year trapped in a boat! This was no luxury cruise. What do you do for a year on an ark? You feed the animals and clean up after them. That's right. By the time you finish cleaning up the mess of the monkeys on the first deck, and make your way up to the giraffes on the third deck, you have to come back and clean up the monkeys mess again. Yikes!

So how does Noah demonstrate faith?

He builds an ark just like God said. He believed God, and his belief led him to action. Obedience.

How does Noah relate to God?

Noah listens to God and obeys even when it's difficult. He also praised God and made sacrifices for him and his family for God's deliverance.

How does God relate to Noah?

He finds favor with Noah. He rewards Noah's consistent and blameless life. He even saves his family from destruction. He makes a covenant with Noah. He sends a rainbow as a continual sign.

How do the characters relate to each other?

We don't know.

Application:

If we say we believe, our faith should result in obedience. What does God ask of us? Not necessarily to build a boat, but to be blameless before him, and to obey even when it's difficult. Demonstrate faith by being obedient to what God asks you to do.

God is faithful. We do not deserve his favor, but we have received it. He has approached us and revealed his plan of destruction for the world. Jesus Christ, like Noah, prepares a way of salvation for his family so that we may escape judgment. What is the ark of Jesus? The cross. Give praise to the Lord for his kindness towards us.

Give praise to the Lord for the promise of the beautiful rainbow!

And what of Noah?

Tomorrow night's topic:

Hebrews 11:7

"By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith."