Fellowship "Elbow Bump" for May 20

Our World Belongs To God 20

Today we continue looking at "Our World Belongs to God: A Contemporary Testimony,"  continuing our look this week at Redemption.

Paragraphs 1-6: Preamble (April 11-29)
Paragraphs 7-12: Creation (April 30-May 8)
Paragraphs 13-17: Fall (May 11-15)
Paragraphs 18-22: Redemption (May 18-22)

Paragraph 20 (Today)
When evil filled the earth,
God judged it with a flood
but rescued Noah and his family
and animals of every kind.
He covenanted with all creatures
that seasons will continue
and that such destruction
will not come again
until the last day
when the Lord returns
to make all things new.

[For God’s promise not to repeat the flood, see Genesis 9:8-17, 1 Peter 3, and 2 Peter 3; for the final renewal, see Revelation 21:1-5.]

Have you ever spoken to someone who sailed a small craft around the world? It doesn’t sound very attractive to me—all those long, lonely hours of repeat, mundane activity, trapped in a small space with only your few familiar travellers.  It never sounded very enjoyable to me, personally, yet here we all are, doing that very thing!  And yes, we’ve already passed the amount of days that Noah’s family spent on that boat.  (Well, at least we do not have to contend with a menagerie of animals.)

For a very different perspective on handling extended isolation, check out this article which Peggy forwarded, "I Spent a Year in Space, and I Have Tips on Isolation to Share," written by Scott Kelly.  I won’t be signing up for his job!

As today's Scripture passages remind us, Noah benefited from a knowledge of God's redemptive purpose. Just knowing that God has promised to do something good with what you have to endure can see you through some pretty hard times.

Rainbows can do that, too.  I can think of times when I thought God must have put a rainbow in the sky just just to cheer me up. I also always get cheered by U2’s pop-rock song from 20 years ago, “Beautiful Day.” The song is the opener on an album where Bono searches out the tug-of-war between sin and grace.   This song looks at how dismal life can look when you’re “out of luck, not moving anywhere," and ends optimistically with the words,

See the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out
It was a beautiful day"

What is God’s purpose for your situation today?  Is he calling you to stay in and pray? To go out and celebrate God's gifts on this beautiful day? To encourage someone? To point someone to a hopeful leaf or cheerful rainbow?

"Lord, thank you for your covenant, your rescue, your redemption. Thank you that you make all things new!"

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
As we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.

Go with this blessing: May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Pastor Mark

PS – My Online office hours on Thursday will be 11am-noon.  Drop in if you'd like to chat, or to doublecheck your Zoom connection before Sunday.  I love having drop-in visitors!