Tag: flood

“Healing for the Earth: The Flood, part 2”

Matt EricksonLeave a comment

This past weekend at Eastbrook, we contimued our preaching series, “Fractured,” drawn from Genesis 4-11. This is the second part of a two-part series on Genesis 1-11 that will stretch from January through Lent up to Easter. You can access the first part of this series on Genesis, “In the Beginning,” here. This fourth week of the series Pastor Jim Caler preached from Genesis 8:1-9:17, walking through the second part of the flood narrative with Noah and his family.

You can find the message outline and video below. You can access the entire series here. Join us for weekend worship in-person or remotely via Eastbrook at Home.

“But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and He sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.” (Genesis 8:1)

Remembered = “Zakar” Used to indicate God taking action on His promises

            Sodom & Gomorrah (Genesis 19:29), Rachel (Genesis 30:22), Israel (Exodus 2:24)

“He remembers His covenant forever, the promise He made, for a thousand generations,” Psalm 105:8

  1. We know God remembers us, so we wait patiently for God’s direction (Genesis 8:1-19)
  2. God stops the waters (1-3)
  3. The Ark comes to rest (4-5)
  4. The Birds (6-12)
  5. The Hatch/Covering is opened (13-14)
  6. God speaks (15-19)
  7. God told them to go in (7:1)
  8. God tells them when to come out (8:15-16)

“I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope.” Psalm 130:5

“Therefore, be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near” James 5:7-8

  • We know God remembers us, so we worship Him, grateful for His faithfulness (8:15-22)
    • Worship thru Obedience (18)
    • Worship thru an Altar and Sacrifices (20)
    • The Worship was pleasing to God (21) 
  • We know God remembers us, so we welcome a new relationship with Him (8:21-9:19)
    • A new humanity (9:1)
    • A new relationship with creation (9:2-4)
    • A new law (9:5-7)
    • A new covenant (8:21-22; 9:8-17)

LIVE IT OUT

            How will you remind yourself that God remembers you?  

            Where do you most need to wait for God’s direction, instead of racing ahead of Him?

            How will you encourage others with the truth that God remembers them?

Dig Deeper

This week dig deeper in one or more of the following ways:

Eastbrook at Home – March 19, 2023

Matt EricksonLeave a comment
Eastbrook-At-Home-Series-GFX_16x9-Title

Join us for worship with Eastbrook Church through Eastbrook at Home at 8, 9:30, and 11 AM. This weekend we continue our preaching series entitled “Fractured” based on Genesis, chapters 4-11, by exploring the ways that God brought healing to the earth through the flood as described in Genesis 8-9.

Here is a prayer for this fourth Sunday in Lent from The Book of Common Prayer:

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

If you are able to do so, let me encourage you to join us for in-person services at 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00 AM this weekend at the Eastbrook Campus.

If you are new to Eastbrook, we want to welcome you to worship and would ask you to text EBCnew to 94000 as a first step into community here at Eastbrook.

Each Sunday at 8, 9:30, and 11 AM, you can participate with our weekly worship service at home with your small group, family, or friends. This service will then be available during the week until the next Sunday’s service starts. You can also access the service directly via Vimeo, the Eastbrook app, or Facebook.

If you are not signed up for our church emailing list, please sign up here. Also, please remember that during this time financial support for the church is critical as we continue minister within our congregation and reach out to our neighborhood, city, and the world at this challenging time. Please give online or send in your tithes and offerings to support the ministry of Eastbrook Church.

Waiting: Journeying through Lent with Noah

Matt EricksonLeave a comment

For forty days the rain fell on the earth as Noah and his family watched aboard the ark. Slowly, the sin-cursed world was covered with water until nothing else was visible. For 150 days after this, the ark surged over the waters of the earth. Dull views, the weary rocking back and forth on waves, and the tiresome work of caring for animals and the boat. And the waiting…

I imagine the waiting was perhaps most difficult for Noah and all on board. When would these rains and flooding end? When would God act to restore the earth? How many days would this animal barge float on the waves before land could once again be visible? That basic question that all children seem to ask on long trips: “Are we there yet?”

Waiting is perhaps one of the most difficult things in our lives. Waiting for results from a medical test. Waiting for a friend to come for the weekend. Waiting for a job during unemployment. Waiting for an answer to questions we carry deep within.

The journey of Lent is also a journey of waiting. Our world was aching with unknown waiting when Jesus came upon earth as the Messiah. Paul the Apostle tells us, “when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son” (Galatians 4:4). But until then, there was waiting and longing and watching for God’s chosen one.

Our Lenten journey today is also characterized by waiting. We remember and once again enter into the waiting of the earth for a Savior. This journey is also a one of waiting for God to act in our own lives. God’s timetable, as is often said, is not our own. Knowing such a thing to be true does not necessarily make the waiting easier. We still wait: for relief, for our needs to be meet, for deliverance, for friendship, for freedom, for…something or anything.

But in all the waiting, we come to the Lord who is God both of our movement and our waiting. We speak from the depths of our souls the words of the psalmist:

I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
    out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
     making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
    and put their trust in the Lord. (Psalm 40:1-3, ESV)

“The Need for Cleansing: The Flood, part 1”

Matt EricksonLeave a comment

This past weekend at Eastbrook, we contimued our preaching series, “Fractured,” drawn from Genesis 4-11. This is the second part of a two-part series on Genesis 1-11 that will stretch from January through Lent up to Easter. You can access the first part of this series on Genesis, “In the Beginning,” here. This third week of the series I preached from Genesis 6:9-8:1, walking through the first part of the flood narrative with Noah and his family.

You can find the message outline and video below. You can access the entire series here. Join us for weekend worship in-person or remotely via Eastbrook at Home.

“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.” 
(Genesis 6:11-12)

A New Generation (6:9a)

The story of Genesis as a story of God working across the generations 

  • The ten toledot of Genesis
  • The generation of Noah and his family
  • Leads up to 10:1 with the generation of Noah’s children

The Tension Between Noah and His Generation (6:9-12)

Noah as righteous, blameless, and walking with God

Noah’s generation as corrupt and full of violence

The Tension Between God and a Disordered World (6:13-22)

God’s heart vexed by what God sees

God’s judgment on corruption, violence, disorder

Two asides

  • about comparable ancient stories of a flood
  • about dates, times, geography, and expansiveness of the flood

The Tension Between God’s Judgment and God’s Mercy (7:1-24)

The Cataclysmic Nature of God’s Judgment

The Generative Nature of God’s Mercy

Dig Deeper

This week dig deeper in one or more of the following ways:

  • Memorize Genesis 6:18 or 8:1
  • Draw, ink, or paint this first half of the story of the Flood in Genesis 6:9-8:1. As you do that, consider what God is speaking to you about your own heart. When you finish, consider sharing your prayer reflections and/or artistry with a friend.
  • Read through other references to Noah in the Bible: 1 Chronicles 1:1-27; Isaiah 54:8-10; Ezekiel 14:12-23; Matthew 24:36-41; Luke 3:23-38; Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:19-22; 2 Peter 2:4-10. 
  • Read one of the following:
    • Peter Spier’s Caldecott Medal winning children’s book, Noah’s Ark

Eastbrook at Home – March 12, 2023

Matt EricksonLeave a comment
Eastbrook-At-Home-Series-GFX_16x9-Title

Join us for worship with Eastbrook Church through Eastbrook at Home at 8, 9:30, and 11 AM. This weekend we continue our preaching series entitled “Fractured” based on Genesis, chapters 4-11, by looking at the expansion of evil and need for cleansing that led to the flood as described in Genesis 6-7.

Here is a prayer for this third Sunday in Lent from The Book of Common Prayer:

Heavenly Father, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you: Look with compassion upon the heartfelt desires of your servants, and purify our disordered affections, that we may behold your eternal glory in the face of Christ Jesus; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

If you are able to do so, let me encourage you to join us for in-person services at 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00 AM this weekend at the Eastbrook Campus.

If you are new to Eastbrook, we want to welcome you to worship and would ask you to text EBCnew to 94000 as a first step into community here at Eastbrook.

Each Sunday at 8, 9:30, and 11 AM, you can participate with our weekly worship service at home with your small group, family, or friends. This service will then be available during the week until the next Sunday’s service starts. You can also access the service directly via Vimeo, the Eastbrook app, or Facebook.

If you are not signed up for our church emailing list, please sign up here. Also, please remember that during this time financial support for the church is critical as we continue minister within our congregation and reach out to our neighborhood, city, and the world at this challenging time. Please give online or send in your tithes and offerings to support the ministry of Eastbrook Church.