N OA H LESSON HOPE WHEN THE FLOODWATERS RISE

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2 LESSON 1 N OA H HOPE WHEN THE FLOODWATERS RISE W ater. All Noah can see s water. The eenng sun snks nto t. The clouds are reflected n t. Hs boat s surrounded by t. Water. Water to the north. Water to the south. Water to the east. Water to the west. Water. All Noah can see s water. He can t remember when he s seen anythng but. He and the boys had barely pushed the last hppo up the ramp when heaen opened a thousand fre hydrants. Wthn moments the boat was rockng, and for days the ran was pourng, and for weeks Noah has been wonderng, How long s ths gong to last? For forty days t raned. For months they hae floated. For months they hae eaten the same food, smelled the same smell, and looked at the same faces. After a certan pont you run out of thngs to say to each other. Fnally the boat bumped, and the rockng stopped. Mrs. Noah gae Mr. Noah a look, and Noah gae the hatch a shoe and poked hs head through. The hull of the ark was restng on ground, but the ground was stll surrounded by water. Noah, she yelled up at hm, what do you see? Water. He sent a raen on a scoutng msson; t neer returned. He sent a doe. It came back sherng and spent, hang found no place to roost. Then, ust ths mornng, he tred agan. He pulled a doe out of the bowels of the ark and ascended the ladder. The mornng sun caused them both to squnt. As he kssed the breast of the brd, he felt a poundng heart. Had he put a hand on hs chest, he would hae felt another. Wth a prayer he let t go and watched untl the brd was no bgger than a speck on a wndow. All day he looked for the doe s return. In between chores he opened the hatch and searched. The boys wanted hm to play a lttle pn the tal on the donkey, but he passed. He chose nstead to clmb nto the crow s nest and look. The wnd lfted hs gray har. The sun warmed hs weather-beaten face. But nothng lfted hs heay heart. He had seen nothng. Not n the mornng. Not after lunch. Not later. God sad to Noah, I am gong to put an end to all people, for the earth s flled wth olence.... So make yourself an ark of cypress wood (Geness 6:13 14). For forty days the flood kept comng on the earth, and as the waters ncreased they lfted the ark hgh aboe the earth (7:17). After forty days Noah opened a wndow he had made n the ark and sent out a raen, and t kept flyng back and forth untl the water had dred up from the earth (8:6 7). Then he sent out a doe to see f the water had receded from the surface of the ground (. 8). 1 Unttled-8 1

3 Ten Men of the Bble But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope s n you (Psalm 39:7). Max Lucado Now the sun s settng, and the sky s darkenng, and he has come to look one fnal tme, but all he sees s water. Water to the north. Water to the south. Water to the east. Water to the... You know the feelng. You hae stood where Noah stood. You e known your share of floods. Flooded by sorrow at the cemetery, stress at the offce, anger at the dsablty n your body or the nablty of your spouse. You e seen the floodwater rse, and you e lkely seen the sun set on your hopes as well. You e been on Noah s boat. And you e needed what Noah needed; you e needed some hope. You re not askng for a helcopter rescue, but the sound of one would be nce. Hope doesn t promse an nstant soluton but rather the possblty of an eentual one. Sometmes all we need s a lttle hope. That s all Noah needed. And that s all Noah receed. 1. Thnk of your lfe as an ark. What condtons are you facng rght now? Are you docked n a port, feelng safe, secure, and full of hope? Are you drftng a lttle? Are you feelng the water leel around you start to rse? Or are you, lke Noah, rdng out a masse flood wth no dry ground and ery lttle hope n sght? 2. What affects the water leel n your lfe? What thngs can make you lose sght of hope? Lst them n the order they affect you. Noah faced a lteral extncton-leel threat. The world as he knew t was gone, yet hs hope could not be destroyed. He sent out the raen and the does to get a sense of when not f God would ease the flood. In the frst study, we ll see how God rewarded Noah s hope n a small but profound way. Prayer for the Week Heaenly Father, thank you for makng yourself known to us through your Word. Thank you for fllng ts pages wth stores of hope. Thank you for keepng the spark of hope ale n us, no matter how dark our world becomes. Bless our efforts to understand better the ncredble hope you offer. In Jesus name, amen. 2 Unttled-8 2

4 Les s o n 1 N OAH Da y One: Ole Leaes Day One: Ole Leaes T h e P ro m s e The old salor stares at the sun bsected by the horzon. Could hardly magne a more beautful sght. But he d ge ths one and a hundred more for an acre of dry ground and a groe of grapes. Mrs. Noah s oce remnds hm that dnner s on the table and he should lock the hatch, and he s ust about to call t a day when he hears the coong of the doe. Here s how the Bble descrbes the moment: When the doe returned to hm n the eenng, there n ts beak was a freshly plucked ole leaf! (Geness 8:11 n). An ole leaf. Noah would hae been happy to hae the brd but to hae the leaf! Ths leaf was more than folage; ths was promse. The brd brought more than a pece of a tree; t brought hope. For sn t that what hope s? Hope s an ole leaf edence of dry land after a flood. Proof to the dreamer that dreamng s worth the rsk. He wated seen more days and agan sent out the doe from the ark (Geness 8:10). When the doe returned to hm n the eenng, there n ts beak was a freshly plucked ole leaf! (. 11). 1. When the doe delered the ole leaf, t brought hope to Noah of a new world to come. Read Geness 6:9 21. What was the problem wth the old world of Noah s day? How would you summarze the eents that led up to the Flood? 2. How would you summarze Noah s role n those eents? Why dd God choose hm and hs famly to be rescued from the Flood? 3. Read Geness 7: What emotons do you magne Noah experenced when he saw the waters rse? What thoughts were runnng through hs mnd? 3 Unttled-8 3

5 Ten Men of the Bble Max Lucado 4. Notce the waters flooded the earth for a hundred and ffty days (erse 24). How would that hae affected Noah s hope? How do you thnk hs atttude toward God helped hm as he wated for the waters to recede? G n g a n O l e L e a f There s surely a future hope for you, and your hope wll not be cut off (Proerbs 23:18). Don t we loe the ole leaes of lfe? It appears the cancer may be n remsson. I can help you wth those fnances. We ll get through ths together. What s more, don t we loe the does that brng them? When the father walks hs son through hs frst broken heart, he ges hm an ole leaf. When the wfe of many years consoles the wfe of a few months, when she tells her that conflcts come and all husbands are moody and these storms pass, you know what she s dong? She s gng an ole leaf. 5. To be able to ge an ole leaf s a hard-earned prlege. Hope doesn t always come easly. In Noah s story, we know hs frst attempt at aan exploraton ended n dsappontment when the raen ddn t come back. Read Geness 8:1 12. Based on what does or doesn t happen wth each brd release, what can we learn about the way God chooses to work n certan stuatons? 6. The ole leaf was good news, but not necessarly mraculously good news. God hadn t caused the floodwaters to ansh oernght, een though that s probably what more than one person n the ark had been hopng. What does that tell us about hope and expectatons? 4 Unttled-8 4

6 Les s o n 1 N OAH Da y One: Ole Leaes 7. Noah and hs famly knew the condtons outsde were mprong, but they had no dea how much longer they would hae to stay n the ark. Read Jeremah 29:11. What s the secret to mantanng hope for an ndefnte perod of tme? 8. What are some ole leaes of lfe that you would lke recee rght now? What are some leaes you could ge to others? The thread of hope regardless of crcumstances that runs through the story of Noah weaes ts way throughout the rest of Scrpture. That hope found ts personfcaton n Jesus. As we ll see n the next study, no one brought hope lke Chrst. Ponts to Remember YY Durng tryng tmes, God sends an ole leaf of hope to assure us there s dry land after a flood. YY The ole leaes of lfe and those who brng them proe to the dreamer that the dream s work the rsk. YY We make a tremendous mpact on another person s lfe when we offer them an ole leaf of hope. Prayer for the Week Father, we prase you for makng all thngs happen n your perfect, perfect tme. We thank you for your long concern. Een n the mdst of your udgment of the world, you kept Noah and hs famly safe. You gae them reason to hope, ust as you ge us reason to hope. May we neer forget that. In Jesus name, amen. 5 Unttled-8 5

7 Ten Men of the Bble Max Lucado Day Two: The Hope We Need T h e D o e o f H e a e n At dawn [Jesus] appeared agan n the temple courts.... The teachers of the law and the Pharsees brought n a woman caught n adultery. They made her stand before the group (John 8:2 3). [Jesus] straghtened up and sad to them, Let any one of you who s wthout sn be the frst to throw a stone at her (. 7). At ths, those who heard began to go away one at a tme (. 9). Go now and leae your lfe of sn (. 11). We loe ole leaes. And we loe those who ge them. Perhaps that s the reason so many loed Jesus. He stands near a woman who was yanked from a bed of promscuty. She s stll dzzy from the rad. A door slammed open, coers were pulled back, and the fraternty of moral polce barged n. And now here she stands. Noah could see nothng but water. She can see nothng but anger. She has no hope. But then Jesus speaks, If any one of you s wthout sn, let hm be the frst to throw a stone at her (John 8:7 n). Slence. Both the eyes and the rocks of the accusers ht the ground. Wthn moments they hae left, and Jesus s alone wth the woman. The doe of heaen offers her a leaf. Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? No one, sr, she sad. Then nether do I condemn you, Jesus declared. Go now and leae your lfe of sn (erses n). Into her shame-flooded world he brngs a leaf of hope. 1. Hope can be gen and hope can be taken. Read John 8:1 11. In ths story, the moral polce put the woman n a seemngly hopeless poston. In what other ways do people tend to rob other people of hope? 2. Who n the past has robbed or attempted to rob you of hope? How dd they do t? How successful were they? 6 Unttled-8 6

8 Les s o n 1 N OAH Da y Two: T he Ho pe We Need 3. What dd you learn from those experences? 4. Based on what you read n John 8, what do you thnk Jesus would say to the people who attempted to rob you? What do you thnk he would say to you about those encounters? The Hope Jesus Ges Jesus also brngs a leaf of hope to Martha. She s bobbng n a sea of sorrow. Her brother s dead. Hs body has been bured. And Jesus, well, Jesus s late. If you had been here, my brother would not hae ded. Then I thnk she mght hae paused. But I know that een now God wll ge you whateer you ask (John 11:21 22 n). As Noah opened hs hatch, so Martha opens her heart. As the doe brought a leaf, so Chrst brngs the same. I am the resurrecton and the lfe. He who belees n me wll le, een though he des; and whoeer les and belees n me wll neer de. Do you belee ths? Yes, Lord, she told hm, I belee that you are the Chrst, the Son of God, who was to come nto the world (erses n). How could he get by wth such words? Who was he to make such a clam? What qualfed hm to offer grace to one woman and a promse of resurrecton to another? Smple. He had done what the doe dd. He d crossed the shorelne of the future land and ourneyed among the trees. And from the groe of grace he plucked a leaf for the woman. And from the tree of lfe he pulled a sprg for Martha. And from both he brngs leaes to you. Grace and lfe. Forgeness of sn. The defeat of death. Ths s the hope he ges. Ths s the hope we need. On hs arral, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been n the tomb for four days (John 11:17). Martha sad... I know that een now God wll ge you whateer you ask ( ). Jesus sad... I am the resurrecton and the lfe (. 25). Yes, Lord, she repled, I belee that you are the Messah (. 27). The stng of death s sn.... But thanks be to God! He ges us the ctory through our Lord Jesus Chrst (1 Cornthans 15:56 57). 5. Martha essentally told Jesus, If you had been here when my brother was sck, we would hae had reason to hope. In lght of what Jesus dd mnutes later rase her brother from the dead her words seem shortsghted. In what other ways do people tend to be shortsghted when t comes to hope? 7 Unttled-8 7

9 Ten Men of the Bble Max Lucado 6. Earler n the story, t s reealed Jesus could hae arred n Bethany whle Martha s brother, Lazarus, was stll ale. Instead, he delayed hs st. Why do you suppose Jesus allowed Mary and Martha to endure such a seemngly hopeless stuaton? 7. Has Jesus eer done somethng smlar n your lfe? In what ways has he allowed you to endure seemngly hopeless stuatons to cause you to rethnk your defnton of hopeless? 8. Jesus defeat of death and forgeness of sns ges us hope for eternal lfe, but what about n the meantme? What present hope does hs salaton ge us? Jesus rasng of Lazarus opens the door for all knds of hope for those who belee n hm. In many nstances, holdng on to hope may not seem logcal. Howeer, as the next study wll make clear, the Lord has a perspecte a son of the here and now as well as of what s to come that we do not. And that perspecte makes all the dfference n the world. Ponts to Remember YY Jesus enters our shame-flooded world when eerythng seems the most hopeless and offers us a leaf from the groe of grace. Jesus comforts us n our sorrow and assures us he s the way and the YY truth and the lfe (John 14:6 n). YY Jesus promses all who belee n hm wll one day hae the ultmate hope of eternal lfe. Prayer for the Day Father, thank you for sendng your Son. Thank you for sacrfcng that whch was most precous to you n order to ge us hope. May that hope burn so brghtly n us that t nspres others to hope and to clam the gft of salaton that you offer. In Jesus name, amen. 8 Unttled-8 8

10 Les s o n 1 N OAH Da y Th ree: Bob by P ns and Rubber Bands D ay Three: Bobby Pns and Rubber Bands I s T h e r e A n y H o p e? In hs book The Grand Essentals, Ben Patterson tells of an S 4 submarne that sank off the coast of Massachusetts. The entre crew was trapped. Eery effort was made to rescue the salors, but eery effort faled. Near the end of the ordeal, a deep-sea der heard tappng on the steel wall of the sunken sub. As he placed hs helmet aganst the essel, he realzed he was hearng a salor tap out ths queston n Morse code: Is there any hope? 1 To the gulty who ask that queston, Jesus says, Yes! To the death-struck who ask that queston, Jesus answers, Yes! To all the Noahs of the world, to all who search the horzon for a fleck of hope, he proclams, Yes! And he comes. He comes as a doe. He comes bearng frut from a dstant land, from our future home. He comes wth a leaf of hope. Hae you receed yours? Don t thnk your ark s too solated. Don t thnk your flood s too wde. Your toughest challenge s nothng more than bobby pns and rubber bands to God. Peace I leae wth you; my peace I ge you. I do not ge to you as the world ges. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afrad (John 14:27). 1. The queston the submarne crew posed was desperate and smple: Is there hope? How many people n your crcle of acquantances do you suppose are askng the same queston f not aloud, then alone n a quet, desperate panc? How can you spot those who need an answer? 2. What makes people assume ther ark s too solated or ther flood s too wde to allow for any hope? 3. How can we counter that way of thnkng wthout soundng delusonal? 9 Unttled-8 9

11 Ten Men of the Bble Max Lucado 4. Whateer hope the crew of the sunken S 4 submarne may hae had, t ended wth ther deaths. But death s not the only cause of hopes beng left unfulflled. What would you say to someone who s been scarred by hopes that neer came to fruton? A Better Perspecte For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nether are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heaens are hgher than the earth, so are my ways hgher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaah 55:8 9). Bobby pns and rubber bands? My older sster used to ge them to me when I was a chld. I would rde my trcycle up and down the sdewalk, pretendng that the bobby pns were keys and my trke was a truck. But one day I lost the keys. Crss! What was I gong to do? My search yelded nothng but tears and fear. But when I confessed my mstake to my sster, she ust smled. Beng a decade older, she had a better perspecte. God has a better perspecte as well. Wth all due respect, our seerest struggles are, n hs ew, nothng worse than lost bobby pns and rubber bands. He s not confounded, confused, or dscouraged. Recee hs hope, won t you? Recee t because you need t. Recee t so you can share t. What do you suppose Noah dd wth hs? What do you thnk he dd wth the leaf? Dd he throw t oerboard and forget about t? Do you suppose he stuck t n hs pocket and saed t for a scrapbook? Or do you thnk he let out a whoop and assembled the troops and passed t around lke the Hope Damond t was? Certanly he whooped. That s what you do wth hope. What do you do wth ole leaes? You pass them around. You don t stck them n your pocket. You ge them to the ones you loe. Loe always hopes. Loe... bears all thngs, belees all thngs, hopes all thngs, endures all thngs (1 Cornthans 13:4 7 nk, emphass added). Loe has hope n you. 5. Noah wasn t the only one to recee an ole leaf the day the doe came back bearng the twg n ts talons. Hs whole famly was ferently hopng for somethng to happen. From your own perspecte, why s t easer to mantan hope when you are not gong through tough tmes alone? 10 Unttled-8 10

12 Les s o n 1 N OAH Da y Th ree: Bob by P ns and Rubber Bands 6. What happens when a communty of people experence hope? How does that shape ther les and the les of generatons to come? 7. As beleers n Chrst, we hae hope because we know God has a greater perspecte on our troubles than we do. What do the followng erses say about why we can always trust n God s plans for our les? Proerbs 3:5 6: Trust n the Lord wth all your heart and lean not on your own understandng; n all your ways submt to hm, and he wll make your paths straght (n). Jeremah 1:5: Before I made you n your mother s womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a specal work. I apponted you as a prophet to the natons (nc). Matthew 6:25 27: Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your lfe, what you wll eat or drnk; or about your body, what you wll wear. Is not lfe more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the brds of the ar; they do not sow or reap or store away n barns, and yet your heaenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more aluable than they? Can any one of you by worryng add a sngle hour to your lfe? (n). Romans 8:28: We know that n eerythng God works for the good of those who loe hm. They are the people he called, because that was hs plan (nc). 11 Unttled-8 11

13 Ten Men of the Bble Max Lucado 8. Hope s meant to be shared and gen out to the ones you loe. What s the most memorable ole leaf you e eer offered to someone? Perspecte s the key to mantanng hope. We can t see thngs from God s perspecte, but we can trust that hs son wll see us through any crcumstance and brng ultmate good from any stuaton. Ponts to Remember YY Jesus offers the promse to those caught n the floodwaters and storms of lfe that there s hope. YY Een our seerest struggles and most dffcult trals are nothng that God, n hs nfnte power and grace, cannot handle. YY When we recee ole leaes of hope, we are not to keep them to ourseles but share them wth others who are also n need. Prayer for the Day Father, we humbly acknowledge that you are all-powerful. No stuaton and no crcumstance n ths world are beyond your ablty to change. Because of that, we know that hope always exsts een when we can t see t. Open our eyes to the potental for good n eerythng that happens. In Jesus name, amen. Day Four: Dry Land T h e G f t o f H o p e The asprng young author was n need of hope. More than one person had told hm to ge up. Gettng publshed s mpossble, one mentor sad. Unless you are a natonal celebrty, publshers won t talk to you. Another warned, Wrtng takes too much tme. Besdes, you don t want all your thoughts on paper. Intally he lstened. He agreed that wrtng was a waste of effort and turned hs attenton to other proects. But somehow the pen and pad 12 Unttled-8 12

14 Les s o n 1 N OAH were bourbon and Coke to the wordaholc. He d rather wrte than read. So he wrote. How many nghts dd he pass on that couch n the corner of the apartment reshufflng hs deck of erbs and nouns? And how many hours dd hs wfe st wth hm? He wordsmthng. She cross-sttchng. Fnally a manuscrpt was fnshed. Crude and laden wth mstakes but fnshed. She gae hm the shoe. Send t out. What s the harm? So out t went. Maled to ffteen dfferent publshers. Whle the couple wated, he wrote. Whle he wrote, she sttched. Nether expectng much, both hopng eerythng. Responses began to fll the malbox. I m sorry, but we don t accept unsolcted manuscrpts. We must return your work. Best of luck. Our catalog doesn t hae room for unpublshed authors. I stll hae those letters. Somewhere n a fle. Fndng them would take some tme. Fndng Denalyn s cross-sttch, howeer, would take none. To see t, all I do s lft my eyes from ths montor and look on the wall. Of all those arts n whch the wse excel, nature s chef masterpece s wrtng well. She gae t to me about the tme the ffteenth letter arred. A publsher had sad yes. That letter s also framed. Whch of the two s more meanngful? The gft from my wfe or the letter from the publsher? The gft, hands down. For n gng the gft, Denalyn gae hope. Loe does that. Loe extends an ole leaf to the loed one and says, I hae hope n you. Day Fo ur: Dr y Land Be oyful n hope, patent n afflcton, fathful n prayer (Romans 12:12). 1. Thnk about a seemngly hopeless stuaton that you faced n the past. Put yourself back n that stuaton and back n that mndset. How dd you feel? What emotons were you experencng? What knds of thoughts were gong through your head? Why dd the stuaton seem so hopeless to you? 2. What gfts of hope dd you recee durng that tme? Who or what dd God use to ge you hope? 3. What dd that hope do for you? How dd t affect your outlook? 4. How hae the gfts of hope you hae receed affected your ablty to dream? 13 Unttled-8 13

15 Ten Men of the Bble Max Lucado Hope to the Arkbound By fath Noah, when warned about thngs not yet seen, n holy fear bult an ark to sae hs famly. By hs fath he condemned the world and became her of the rghteousness that s n keepng wth fath (Hebrews 11:7). Therefore encourage one another and buld each other up (1 Thessalonans 5:11). Loe s ust as quck to say, I hae hope for you. You can say those words. You are a flood suror. By God s grace you hae found your way to dry land. You know what t s lke to see the waters subsde. And snce you do, snce you passed through a flood and led to tell about t, you are qualfed to ge hope to someone else. What? Can t thnk of any floods n your past? Let me og your memory. How about adolescence? Remember the torrent of the teenage years? Remember the hormones and hemlnes? The puberty and pmples? Those were tough tmes. Yeah, you re thnkng, but you get through them. That s exactly what teenagers need to hear you say. They need an ole leaf from a suror. So do young couples. It happens n eery marrage. The honeymoon ends, and the rer of romance becomes the rer of realty, and they wonder f they wll sure. You can tell them they wll. You e been through t. Wasn t easy, but you sured. You and your spouse found dry land. Why don t you pluck an ole leaf and take t to an ark? Are you a cancer suror? Someone n the cancer ward needs to hear from you. Hae you bured a spouse and led to smle agan? Then fnd the recently wdowed and walk wth them. Your experences hae deputzed you nto the doe brgade. You hae an opportunty yea, erly, an oblgaton to ge hope to the arkbound. 5. How can you tell f someone s arkbound and n need of hope? What clues would you look for n the way he or she talks and acts? 6. What role does empathy play n gng people hope? 7. How can you deelop or sharpen your empathy sklls? 8. Why s t tal that wth eery ole leaf you dstrbute, you also deflect all credt and glory to the One who made the leaf? 14 Unttled-8 14

16 Les s o n 1 N OAH Da y Fe: Just One Leaf Each of us has a powerful story of hope to tell. We may not recognze ust how powerful our story s, howeer, untl we see t resonate n the lfe of someone else. Noah s story stll resonates thousands of years after t happened. In fact, as we ll see n the next study, Jesus hmself used Noah s story to ge hope to people concernng hs own return. Ponts to Remember YY Loe extends encouragement to our loed ones and communcates that we hae hope n them. YY We are all surors who hae been through the floods of lfe and seen the waters subsde, and ths qualfes us to offer hope to others. YY We hae an ncredble opportunty een an oblgaton to brng hope to those who are n need of t. Prayer for the Day Father, thank you for creatng n us an nterconnectedness common ground, smlar experences, and shared emotons that we can draw on to ge hope to one another. Help us to be mndful of the hope we hae been gen. Bless our efforts to share that hope wth others. In Jesus name, amen. Day Fe: Just One Leaf Hdden n Chrst As Jesus sought for a way to explan hs return, he hearkened back to the flood of Noah. In those days before the flood, he sad, people were eatng and drnkng, marryng and gng ther chldren to be marred, untl the day Noah entered the boat. They knew nothng about what was happenng untl the flood came and destroyed them. It wll be the same when the Son of Man comes (Matthew 24:38 39 nc). The parallels are obous. A message of udgment was proclamed then. It s proclamed stll. People ddn t lsten then. They refuse to lsten today. Noah was sent to sae the fathful. Chrst was sent to do the same. A flood of water came then. A flood of fre wll come next. Noah bult a safe place out of wood. Jesus made a safe place wth the cross. Those who beleed hd n the ark. Those who belee are hdden n Chrst. But about that day or hour no one knows... only the Father. As t was n the days of Noah, so t wll be at the comng of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:36 37). So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man wll come at an hour when you do not expect hm (. 44). 15 Unttled-8 15

17 Ten Men of the Bble Max Lucado 1. To the gref-strcken, God says, Neer wll I leae you; neer wll I forsake you (Hebrews 13:5 n). Do you know anyone who has recently lost a loed one, gone through a dorce, or experenced an estrangement from a famly member? If so, how can you explan God s assurance to that person n a hope-gng way? 2. To the gult-rdden, Paul wrtes, There s now no condemnaton for those who are n Chrst Jesus (Romans 8:1 n). Do you know anyone wth an unquet conscence? If so, how can you translate the words of the apostle Paul nto hope for that person? 3. To the obless, the Bble says, In all thngs God works for the good of those who loe hm (Romans 8:28 n). Do you know anyone who s strugglng wth ob securty at the moment? If so, how can you use the promse of ths erse to offer hope to that person? 4. To those who feel beyond God s grace, John wrtes, For God so loed the world that he gae hs one and only Son, that whoeer belees n hm shall not persh but hae eternal lfe (John 3:16 n). Do you know anyone who feels too far gone to recee God s grace? If so, how can you use Jesus words to brng hope nto that person s lfe? A B a s k e t o f L e a e s God sends a safe place for the fathful today: hs Son. So encourage those who are lost and strugglng. Don t know what to say? Open your Bble. The ole leaf for the Chrstan s a erse of Scrpture. For eerythng that was wrtten n the past was wrtten to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scrptures we mght hae hope (Romans 15:4 n). Do you hae a Bble? Then start passng out the leaes. 16 Unttled-8 16

18 Les s o n 1 N OAH Your Bble s a basket of leaes. Won t you share one? They hae amazng mpact. After receng hs, Noah was a changed man. Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth (Geness 8:11 n). He went up the ladder wth questons and came down the ladder wth confdence. What a dfference one leaf makes. Da y Fe: Just One Leaf Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.... Noah then remoed the coerng from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry (Geness 8:11,13). 5. What do the followng passages your ole leaes say about hope? Zephanah 3:17: For the Lord your God s lng among you. He s a mghty saor. He wll take delght n you wth gladness. Wth hs loe, he wll calm all your fears. He wll reoce oer you wth oyful songs (nlt). Psalm 3:2 6: Many are sayng about me, God won t rescue hm. But, Lord, you are my sheld, my wonderful God who ges me courage. I wll pray to the Lord, and he wll answer me from hs holy mountan. I can le down and go to sleep, and I wll wake up agan, because the Lord ges me strength. Thousands of troops may surround me, but I am not afrad (nc). John 14:1 3: Do not let your hearts be troubled. You belee n God; belee also n me. My Father s house has many rooms; f that were not so, would I hae told you that I am gong there to prepare a place for you? And f I go and prepare a place for you, I wll come back and take you to be wth me that you also may be where I am (n). 1 Peter 1:4 6: Now we hope for the blessngs God has for hs chldren. These blessngs, whch cannot be destroyed or be spoled or lose ther beauty, are kept n heaen for you. God s power protects you through your fath untl salaton s shown to you at the end of tme. Ths makes you ery happy, een though now for a short tme dfferent knds of troubles may make you sad (nc). 17 Unttled-8 17

19 Ten Men of the Bble Max Lucado 6. In 1 Peter 3:15 we read, Always be prepared to ge an answer to eeryone who asks you to ge the reason for the hope that you hae (n). What s the hope that you hae? How would you summarze t n one sentence? 7. How prepared are you to follow Peter s nstructons? What reasons would you ge for your hope? 8. Of all the people you know, who would beneft most from hearng about the hope you hae? God sad to Noah... I now establsh my coenant wth you and wth your descendants after you (Geness 9:8 9). Ths s the sgn of the coenant I hae establshed between me and all lfe on the earth (. 17). At the end of the story of the Flood, God says to Noah, I establsh my coenant wth you: Neer agan wll all lfe be cut off by the waters of a flood; neer agan wll there be a flood to destroy the earth... Ths s the sgn of the coenant I am makng between me and you and eery lng creature wth you, a coenant for all generatons to come: I hae set my ranbow n the clouds, and t wll be the sgn of the coenant between me and the earth (Geness 9:11 13 n). The Hebrew word for coenant, beryth, means a solemn agreement wth bndng force. God makes and neer breaks hs promses. Hs rreocable coenant runs lke a scarlet thread through the tapestry of Scrpture. Eery ranbow remnds us of God s coenant. Curously, astronauts who e seen ranbows from outer space tell us they form a complete crcle. God s promses are equally unbroken and unendng. 18 Unttled-8 18

20 Les s o n 1 Ponts to Remember N OAH Fo r Fur ther Readng YY Jesus made a safe place for us wth the cross, but we must accept hs gft of hope and get on board the ark of salaton. YY Wheneer we are strugglng and need encouragement, we can open the pages of the Bble our ole leaes of hope. YY God s promses, lke the ranbow at the end of the Flood, are eternally unbroken and unendng. Prayer for the Day Jesus, help us to not be stubborn or set n our ways. Help us to lsten for your oce and follow your call as we extend the hope you hae gen us to others. Thank you, Lord, for makng a safe place for each of us through your ark of salaton. In your name, amen. Weekly Memory Verse May the God of hope fll you wth all oy and peace as you trust n hm, so that you may oerflow wth hope by the power of the Holy Sprt. ROMANS 15:13 (n) F or Further Readng Selectons throughout ths lesson were taken from A Loe Worth Gng (Nashlle: Thomas Nelson, 2002); When Chrst Comes (Nashlle: Thomas Nelson, 1999); and Facng Your Gants (Nashlle: Thomas Nelson, 2006). Note 1. Charles Swndoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1,501 Other Stores (Nashlle: Word Publshng, 1998), p Unttled-8 19