Family Worship (Sept 06)

Have you ever made a huge mess and wished you could erase everything and start over? Maybe you were drawing a picture, building with LEGO, or playing a video game when everything went wrong. Sometimes starting over really does help! But imagine starting the whole thing over and discovering that the same problem keeps coming back. That is a little like what happened in the story of Noah. The world had become filled with sin and violence. God judged the world with a great flood, but he showed grace to Noah and his family by saving them in the ark. When the flood was over, Noah stepped into a fresh, clean world. But there was still a problem: sin was still inside the human heart. We need more than a fresh start. We need God to change us from the inside. That is why God sent Jesus to save us from our sin and give us new hearts.

Read Genesis 6:5–22

Discussion Questions

1. Why did God send the flood, and how did he show grace to Noah and his family?
2. Why couldn't the flood solve the problem of sin in the human heart?
3. How does Jesus give us something better than simply another chance to start over

Activity
Get a washable marker and a plastic cup, plate, or other washable object. Draw several marks on it to represent sins such as lying, selfishness, anger, and disobedience. Wash all the marks away. Then talk together: washing the outside was easy, but can water wash sin out of our hearts? No! We need Jesus to forgive us and the Holy Spirit to change us from the inside. Finish by praying together for clean and changed hearts.

Memory Work:

New City Catechism
35. Since we are redeemed by grace alone, through faith alone, where does this faith come from?
All the gifts we receive from Christ we receive through the Holy Spirit, including faith itself.

Memory Verse
Deuteronomy 31:8
The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.