Genesis 6:11-22
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
When I was growing up we had a wonderful pastor's wife who was very gifted in teaching children. In fact, her expertise was in using a felt board to teach Bible stories to us. She was amazing. I had never experienced these stories like I did when Mary Dieker was teaching them to me. In our digital age of multi-sensory learning the use of felt boards has gone out of style. But I have found using these tools of a bygone era can be effective in today's culture. They are seen as a novelty by today's children who have never heard of or seen a felt board.
One of the reasons I love the felt boards Mary Dieker used is they are the main reason I know the great stories of the Bible. Stories like the great flood, Moses and the burning bush, David and Goliath and Daniel in the Lions' Den are all stories that continue to speak to me today. They are often known as children's stories, even adorning the walls of nurseries and the covers of children's Bible story books. But the messages of these great narratives are anything but simplistic and infantile. These are stories with adult themes and great theological significance.
Beginning this Sunday we are going to be taking a fresh look at these grand Old Testament sagas. Through the use of the felt board, Biblical research, and practical application we will see how these stories still speak to our faith today. This Sunday we will examine the story of Noah and the great flood. We will see how our culture may not be that different from Noah's culture, how God's grace was present in the life of Noah, and signs of God's grace in today's time. I hope to see each of you in worship this Sunday at 10:45 at OKC First Church.
