This Sunday, we will be exploring Genesis 9:1-29, Promise According to God.

Do you love the promises of God?

Do you know the promises of God?

If you think about it, the only sure thing that we have in this world are the promises of God. His Word. His covenants. His faithfulness.

After the Flood, the earth is cleansed. It is different. It is new in many ways. But it is also still plagued by the problems of sin, selfishness, and death.

Noah is like a "second Adam," blessed and empowered to repopulate the earth. But, just like Adam, he fails. He gets drunk in his tent and one of his own sons gloats at his foolishness.

It is another sad scene.

But it reminds us that all of us have issues... all of us struggle with sin... all of us will fail at one time or another.. .and this present world will always disappoint.

So what do we lean on in this crazy, frustrating, difficult, disappointing, still sin-cursed world?

God's promises!

In Genesis 9, God gives His covenant promise to Noah... and not just to Noah, but to all humanity, to every living creature, and to the earth itself. Never again will He destroy every living creature and the earth with a flood.

In some sense, it sounds basic. "Okay, but He can destroy it in other ways." But, in its truest sense, the Noahic Covenant promises us that God's heart is passionately and unconditionally directed towards redemption.

He is going to redeem the earth. He is going to redeem us!

He is not bent on our destruction. His heart is bent toward our redemption.

To assure us of His heart, God puts a rainbow in the sky.

The rainbow.

Unfortunately it is now a symbol for something very different than its original design.

But its true purpose remains.

God loves us! God will redeem us! And God keeps His promises!

This is what gives us hope in this world.

Don't ever forget that God's heart is toward your good... and, in the end, all that is broken will be made whole again.

May God encourage, establish, refresh, revive, and delight our hearts with His promises!

Church History 101 | Week 6 of our 7-week series. This course will teach you about our history from the time of Christ to the reformation.

Church History 101 | Week 5 of our 7-week series. This course will teach you about our history from the time of Christ to the reformation.

Church History 101 | Week 4 of our 7-week series. This course will teach you about our history from the time of Christ to the reformation.

Church History 101 | Week 3 of our 7-week series. This course will teach you about our history from the time of Christ to the reformation.

Church History 101 | Week 2 of our 7-week series. Through viewing this course, you will learn about our history from the time of Christ to the reformation.

Welcome to the first week in our 7-week Church History 101 course. Through viewing this course, you will learn about our history from the time of Christ to the reformation.

This week, we will be focusing on Genesis 5:1-32, Death According to God.
Genesis 5 isn't the most encouraging chapter, at least on the surface. The refrain that is repeated over and over in this chapter is "and he died...and he died...and he died...and he died..."
One Bible teacher compared reading Genesis 5 to walking through a cemetery.
But even in the so-called "death chapter" there is hope.
And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. (5:24)
Walking with God.
Step by step.
Being faithful each day.
That is what God calls us to. Not the "big things." Not the social media "like" posts. Not the Billy Graham-type evangelistic crusades. Not the incredible "miracles," amazing "prophetic words," or "change the world" mission testimonies.
God can certainly do big things through us for His glory.
But what He asks us to do is to walk with Him.
To know Him...to love Him...to commune with Him...to talk with Him...to learn from Him...to journey through life with Him always at our side.
Even in the craziest, busiest, most stressful times of life...and even in a world that is filled with sin, division, and death...God just asks us to walk with Him and to trust Him.
Enoch walked with God.
That is his testimony. Nothing else is mentioned. No miracles. No great acts. No big victories. No incredible feats of faith.
Just a simple, faithful, daily, consistent, loving walk with the Lord.
A walk so close to God that eventually Enoch walked straight into the Lord's presence. The transition was instant...and apparently as natural as any other day in Enoch's life.
Enoch died to himself, walked with the Lord, and found life in a world of death.
May the Lord capture our hearts with His grace and His love and may each day be filled with joyful communion with Him!