God’s Promise

Noah and the Rainbow

OPENING WORSHIP

We’re going to start our worship by reading Psalm 95:1-4.

“1Come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. 2Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him.

3For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods. 4He holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains.”

Our first song is a favourite at MRBC. It reminds us that God is bigger than anything else, “for the Lord is a great God”.

Our God is a great big God - https://youtu.be/-gji65RVaKM

BIBLE BIT & DISCUSSION

Our story today is one you know well, I’m sure. It’s about a man called Noah and the time God asked him to do something unusual. God told him to build a huge boat, right in the middle of land. This seems nearly as crazy as the story we looked at last week but again, it’s all about following God’s instructions, every de-tail, no matter how strange it seems.

Story

In the Bible the story of Noah is quite long, it stretches through 3 chapters - Genesis 6:9 - 9:17

Perhaps you have a story book with this story in it, or you might like to watch this video…..

Video - https://youtu.be/4yzN0fUxjkQ

Discussion

The story of Noah and the ark is told so often that we can become overfamiliar with it so let’s have a look at what was going on.

The people on earth were all doing their own thing rather than following God’s commands. God wasn’t happy with how the people were behaving.

1. How do you think God feels about the way people behave today?

There are a lot of people who don’t go to church and a lot of people who aren’t Christians. They think they don’t need God in their lives and do things their way. There are a lot of people who worship sportsmen, celebrities, pop stars, instead of God. God really doesn’t like that. A lot of things that are acceptable to so-ciety aren’t acceptable to God.

2. You may find your friends do things that you know are wrong. I wonder how you react; do you tell them to stop; do you join in; do you walk away?

In the story, God wanted to destroy everything and start again, but then he saw Noah. Noah did follow God so God had a plan to save him. Noah must have been good at listening to God because the plan to save him was pretty crazy. You’d have to be very sure that God had spoken to you start building a giant boat in the middle of dry land, not near any water.

How do you listen to God? What would you do to make sure you had heard from God?

If God asks you to do something then it is really important that you do it. If you follow God’s plan for you then things will go well. BUT, if it’s something real big then you have to be sure that it is God who is asking you to do it. God will never ask you to do something that is bad or would hurt you or someone else. When I feel God is telling me to do something, I always ask him to show me in a different way, just to confirm it is God who is speaking and not me making it up!

Noah must have been very sure that God was asking him to build the ark and he built it using all the details God gave him. Noah wasn’t taking any chances, he wanted to be saved. God did save Noah and his family. He saved them because they believed in and trusted God, and they were obedient to God’s commands.

People are still doing their own thing and turning their backs on God but, he has a plan to save everyone. Do you know what that plan is? The plan is Jesus. God sent Jesus to earth so that we would understand God better, but also so that anyone who believes in Jesus, follows his teaching and invites him into their lives will be saved.

At the end of Noah’s story God sent a rainbow to remind every living creature of his promise not to kill everything, no matter how sad they make him. When you see a rainbow remember God’s promise not to destroy everything but also remember his promise to save you if you accept Jesus into your life.

SONG Before you move on to the creative prayer, let’s have a song. Perhaps you know it, ‘Who built the ark?’ Sing along with the chorus, perhaps make up your own actions – a hammering action for the chorus, ‘Who built the ark? Brother Noah built the ark’ and marching around the room like the animals marching onto the ark. You might even try different actions for the different animals – have fun… Who built the ark - https://youtu.be/QGNMW6WRvLs

CREATIVE PRAYER

Rainbow Thanks

Since Lockdown started people have used the rainbow as a sign of hope and then of thanks to the NHS. People have chalked rainbows on the pavement, put pictures in their windows and I even saw photos of rainbows painted on sheep! Today we have heard how God used the rainbow to speak of the promise he made not to destroy every living thing again.

Here we are going to use the rainbow to remind ourselves that God keeps his promise and to thank him for all he does for us.

1. Print off the rainbow and letters on pages 11 & 12 2. Colour the rainbow and the letters (but not the strips that come off

the letters). 3. Think of things you would like to thank God for, eg the NHS, carers,

scientists finding a vaccination, etc. 4. Write the things you are thankful for above the rainbow. 5. Cut off the bottom of the page, along the bottom line of the rainbow. 6. Cut out the letters, including the hanging strips.

7. Stick the letters under the rainbow.

8. Use your picture to say thanks to God for all that is good.

Stick the rainbow on a wall or window to remind you of all you have to give thanks for and to remind you of God’s promise to never flood the whole world again.

Colour Prayers

For this prayer time you will need 5 coloured objects or a pack of Skittles sweets. These prayers should be done as a family group.

Skittles

1. Place the skittles, in a pattern around a bowl or side plate to form a continuous circle with no gaps. It is important that the skittles are against an edge.

2. Gently pour water into the centre of the circle until it reaches the sweets. 3. Watch as the colours start moving out from the sweets. 4. As you wait and watch pray the following prayers – one or each colour. 5. Take it in turns to say one of the prayers below – or make up your own prayers

It may be easier to print the prayers on page 5.

Coloured Objects

1. Look around the house for 5 objects of different colours, it could be balls, dolls, cars, bricks, hoops

2. Place the objects on the table or floor in front of you 3. Take it in turns to pick up an object and say a pray – use the colour coded pray-

ers or make up one of your own. It may be easier to print the prayers on page 5

(If you don’t have the same colours change the colours to match yours)

Prayers

Purple – Praise God Our Father, you are fabulous and completely awesome. You always keep your promises. We trust you to show us the right way to live so that we are kind and helpful to other people. Amen

Orange – Give Thanks Father God, we thank you for the hospitals and all the people who work in them. We thank you for the people who look after the old folk in the care homes. We thank you for our teachers who continue to care for us and think up ways to help us learn while so many children are at home. Amen

Green – Pray for the Sick Dear God, we think of everyone who is sick with the coronavirus. We pray that they know you are with them and that you love them. Amen

Red – Ask Forgiveness Lord God, please help us to stop doing things that you don’t like us doing. Help us to stop and think be-fore we do something that might hurt another person. We are sorry for all the things we do that don’t match up to your standards. Please forgive us. Amen

Yellow – Pray for Others Lord, we pray for our family, friends and neighbours who don’t yet know you. May your light shine on them and turn their rainy days into a rainbow of hope. We want everyone to know you love them. We want your Kingdom to grow. Amen.

SONG

This week’s family worship song is a song we often sing at MRBC, ‘This is Amazing Grace’. Play the video and enjoy the song, sing, do the actions or just dance – use it to worship God together.

Amber Sky - This is Amazing Grace - https://youtu.be/jekw0_eIVuo

EXTRA ACTIVITIES

Here are some extra activities on the story of Noah. You can do them as a family or the children can do them while you listen to Mike's Sermon.

The sermon for this week is entitled, ‘God’s Deliverance’, looking at Acts 12:1-19 for the answer - https://youtu.be/XA7pgcmO-qI

Colouring 1.pdf—page 6 Colouring 2.pdf – page 7 My daughter helped me with this one

Maze – easier.pdf—page 8 Maze – harder.pdf—page 9

Wordsearch – easier.pdf—page 10 Wordsearch – harder.pdf—page 11

Colour Prayers

Purple – Praise God Our Father, you are fabulous and completely awesome. You always keep your promises. We trust you to show us the right way to live so that we are kind and helpful to other people. Amen

Orange – Give Thanks Father God, we thank you for the hospitals and all the people who work in them. We thank you for the people who look after the old folk in the care homes. We thank you for our teachers who continue to care for us and think up ways to help us learn while so many children are at home. Amen

Green – Pray for the Sick Dear God, we think of everyone who is sick with the coronavirus. We pray that they know you are with them and that you love them. Amen

Red – Ask Forgiveness Lord God, please help us to stop doing things that you don’t like us doing. Help us to stop and think before we do something that might hurt another person. We are sorry for all the things we do that don’t match up to your standards. Please forgive us. Amen

Yellow – Pray for Others Lord, we pray for our family, friends and neighbours who don’t yet know you. May your light shine on them and turn their rainy days into a rainbow of hope. We want everyone to know you love them. We want your Kingdom to grow. Amen.

MAZE

Noah and the Ark

Help the ark find the way to dry land

MAZE

Noah and the Ark

Help the ark find the way to dry land

WORDSEARCH

Noah and the Ark

N O A H W Y G D L A

X U B L O Y E O W R

H S C R B P Y B D E

K U N E N H W M O Y

H D Y X I S D M C B

Q A S J A D O O L F

G R D G R A C N M J

A K W E A Y S A X P

G F X V E Y Q K L H

J A L D K H L V P L

Find these words in the grid above

ARK NOAH

FLOOD OBEY

GOD RAINBOW

WORDSEARCH

Noah and the Ark

R R C W Q D K B U O X P J T W D L M Y M

C A S A D J K E R R Z F N Z K A F F J P

D M I Q T O Y M O S H Q Z V A N X Y U B

B D G N X D V M X A H H E N Q U A M P I

A O Q W B U I E O V E D I S U L P O R O

O B E Y K O C N I E U M N P H O F O O N

Y G H I X M W R I R A Y D O K C X R M W

I J X R U U R L F L H Y P L C K W T I W

H U R O E P A F S D D F H E O R B U S J

R H X U G G B J Q X S T S I X V P M E G

Z Z Z W T D Q D Z N N N M U O Y U K Q I

E S I A R P R Z O B J J G F D O N F V U

J M V J A H A I J O A Y J W S I D Z G C

Z K M Y U E T Y U R L X D L K B W X I U

O H W A I W L U K V T F M O O N N Q D Q

D O G Q G T A O Z C M R W V N G F W N G

Q S A S O H M F V M D Q G D P H Q E C A

Y A Q V U B U N E U I X H V M Y W G A G

O I D X U L Y M K A Z E E G Z O D K A E

D X X P E M O Q D L C Z R L Q W O H X D

Find these words in the grid above

ALTAR DOVE NOAH PROMISE

ANIMALS FLOOD OBEY RAINBOW

ARK GOD PRAISE SAVE