September 20: The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.†–Genesis 8:20-22
Immediately after God tells Noah that he is going to destroy the earth with the flood, he makes a covenant with Noah. This covenant will stand as Noah’s hope through what had to be some long days and sleepless nights. Surely Noah must have wondered at times if being at the bottom of the water would not be the preferred place!
But he did make it through the ordeal and the first thing he does when getting out of the ark, the verses above tell us, is build an altar and have a worship service. It wasn’t just any worship service: it was a covenant renewal worship service. He was there to be reminded of God’s covenant faithfulness to him. Often times we try to look back and get encouragement for our Christian lives by something we did in the past: perhaps praying a prayer, walking and aisle, signing a card, something like that. But that’s not where true and lasting encouragement is found. If you want the real thing, you’ll have to abandon looking back at what you’ve done and look back at what God has promised and done. In Noah’s case, God saved Noah from judgment by judgment. If you know Christ, then you know exactly the same is true for you.
And that’s the gospel! Come hear it preached and enacted in the Supper with Jesus this Sunday in a service of covenant renewal.
The related hymns we’ll sing are:
All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name!
Jesus Paid It All
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
This Sunday, September 20, is our Community Lunch. For more details, contact us here.
Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (on Reformed Treasures) is up and running! Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.
Visitors are always welcome!