Join us for Sunday School, Teen & Adult Bible studies Sunday mornings at 9:30. Children younger than 3 are welcome to be with their parents in the Adult class.
Devotions
The story of Ruth
Even though God had given the People of Israel the land of Canaan, they often sinned by worshiping false gods. For this, God would punish them.
As a punishment, God did not send any rain to the land of Israel. For a long, long time it did not rain and nothing could grow. Soon there was no food for the people and the animals to eat. Some of the people had to go to other lands to live. One man who lived in Bethlehem took his wife Naomi and his two sons to a strange land.
In this land there was enough food but the people there did not love God. They prayed to other gods. But the man and his wife prayed to the Lord God, and they taught their sons to worship him too.
Some time later the man died in this strange land. His wife Naomi and his two sons were left there alone. But the sons had found wives in this land. One of the wives was named Orpah and the other was named Ruth. Ruth learned to love and serve God.
After about ten years, the sons also died. Now Naomi and Orpah and Ruth were all alone. They had no one to make a home for them.
Then Naomi heard that the Lord had once again sent rain to Canaan. Now that there was enough food for the people to eat, Naomi wanted to go back to her home. Ruth and Orpah said to Naomi, “We will go with you to your home in Canaan.”
As they were on the way, Naomi said to Orpah and Ruth, “Go back to your own land, and live in your mother’s house again. I hope that God will be as kind to you as He has been to me.” Orpah kissed Naomi goodbye, and she went back to her own people. But Ruth stayed with Naomi.
Naomi said to Ruth, “Orpah has gone back to her people. You should go back too.”
“Oh, do not ask me to leave you,” Ruth answered. “I will go wherever you go and live with you there. I will be a part of your family and worship your God. I will die in the same land that you die in and be buried there. We will stay together as long as we live.” So Ruth stayed with Naomi, and they both went back to the land of Canaan together.
They came to Bethlehem just when the grain was ripe in the fields. Workers were cutting the grain and putting it into the barns.
Ruth went into the fields to pick up the grain that the workers had dropped. She used this grain for food, so that she and Naomi would not be hungry. The field Ruth worked in belonged to a rich man named Boaz.
One day Boaz asked one of his workers, “Who is the strange young woman who is working in my field?”
The worker said, “Her name is Ruth. She is the girl who came back with Naomi.”
Boaz went to talk to Ruth. He said, “Stay and work in my field. When you are hungry or thirsty, you may eat and drink with my workers.”
“Why are you so kind to me?” asked Ruth. “You don’t even know me.”
Boaz answered, “I have heard how kind you were to Naomi. You left your father and mother, and you left your own land to come to this strange land. You trust in the Lord, and He is blessing your work.”
When Ruth had gone back to work, Boaz told his workers, “Be very kind to Ruth. I want her to have more grain than she is getting now. Let more of it fall to the ground, so that there is more for her to pick up.”
Every day Ruth worked in the fields that belonged to Boaz. He learned to love Ruth, and he married her. Ruth and Boaz had children and grandchildren. King David came from their family and many, many years later, Jesus, the Savior, was born of David’s family.
Oktoberfest! ~ Sunday, Oct. 7th at Living Hope
10:30: Mission Sunday worship — To the Ends of the Earth
A meal will immediately follow the worship service.
Afternoon activities:
- Pumpkin painting!
- Televised NFL football game (1:00 -4:00 p.m.)
- Volleyball, game of catch, etc. for outside
- Board games or card games for inside
Family fun! Stay as long as you like! Rain or shine!
Posted in All Posts, Dates & Reminders, fun stuff, FYI, Living Hope Church, OPL
The Walls of Jericho
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses”.
Now Joshua was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to Joshua and did what the Lord had commanded Moses. And Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground. The Lord their God dried up the Jordan before them until they had crossed over.
Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”
The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”
So Joshua called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.” And he ordered the army, “Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord.”
When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the Lord went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant followed them. The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there.
Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the Lord and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets kept sounding. So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.
On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times.
The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord.
When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. They devoted the city to the Lord. So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.
(Excerpts taken from Deuteronomy 34, Joshua 1, 5, & 6)
Five little squirrels
Five little squirrels sitting in a tree.
The first one said, “It’s getting cold for me.”
The second one said, “The leaves are falling to the ground.”
The third one said, “Let’s get busy there are nuts to be found.”
The fourth one said, “We better not wait.”
The fifth one said, “Fall is really great!”
Five little squirrels sitting in a tree.
The first one said, “What do I see?”
The second one said, “Some nuts on the ground.”
The third one said, “Those nuts I found.”
The fourth one said, “I’ll race you there.”
The fifth one said, “All right, that’s fair.”
So they shook their tails and ran with glee.
To the nuts that lay at the foot of the tree.
God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. ~ Genesis 1:25
Posted in All Posts, Bible Verses for Kids, fun stuff
The Good Shepherd finds his lost sheep
Jesus told them this parable:
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?
“And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.
“Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’
“I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
~ Psalm 150
