SERMON NOTES:

Prayer Requests Y David Weems, who is struggling with job and personal issues. Y Emogene Evans, a friend of Paul & Amy Moore, who recently suffered a stroke. Y Pray for Ankur Chopra as he struggles with personal issues, as well as high fever while in India. Y Pray for Kevin & Nancy Amundsens brother-in-law Harold Martin who was diagnosed with cancer and will be having 35 radiation treatments. Y Tom Umscheid, the husband of Pastor Pauls cousin, who is going through cancer treatment in Rochester. Y Pray for John Thiessen as he undergoes chemo for his ureter/kidney/lymph-node cancer. Y Pray for Melanie Vosdinghs mother, Rochelle LeTourneau as she recovers from open heart surgery. Y Pray for Sharon Hines as she continues chemo on her lung and liver cancer. Y Carter Olson, age 7 who is in his last two months of chemotherapy for brain cancer. Please pray that Carter's kidneys will remain strong and return to normal function and that Carter will not suffer any further hearing loss. Thank-you for prayers already received.

Y Pray for Jennifers sister Rebecca Klein as their family go through divorce. Y Pray for Angelicas friend Ann, a friend and colleague, who is receiving treatment for breast cancer. Y Pray for persons and process involved in property purchase for COL.

DEVOTION

This past week Pastor Paul shared a sermon on the theme of covenant. Covenant is an important theme in the Old Testament. A covenant has two partsa promise and a sign. Four times in the Old Testament God shared a covenant. Each covenant was a bit different than the others. All of them were similar in that they shared Gods faithfulness with the people. This week we have the opportunity to study more in depth these four covenants; we also have the opportunity to reflect on the new covenant that God promised in Jeremiah 31. Enjoy! Monday, March 12 Read Genesis 9:1-17 This is the very first covenant in the Bible. God made a promise that God would never destroy the earth again by a flood. The sign of the covenant was the rainbow. Our Jewish friends say a prayer of blessing when they see a rainbow. The blessing prayerin Hebrew and English is: Baruch ata Ado-nai Elo-heinu melech ha'olam zocher ha'brit v'ne'eman bivrito v'kayam b'ma'amaro.

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Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who remembers the covenant, and is faithful to His covenant, and keeps His promise. When we see a rainbow we are reminded to remember the promise that God made to us. We can praise God that God is always faithful. As you pray today give thanks to God for this promise that is communicated through a rainbow. Tuesday, March 13 Read Genesis 17:1-14 This is the second covenant shared in the Old Testament. The covenant started with the promise given in Genesis 12 that God would bless Abram and that through Abram, Abrams descendants would be a blessing to the world. The sign of the covenant was circumcision. This was the mark of the covenant. It was a way that men responded to this promise of God. This covenant of blessing is a wonderful gift that God has given to us. Last week Pastor Paul asked everyone to be intentional about blessing others. He asked people to enter into blessing modethat is, being intentional about blessing other people. When we enter into blessing mode, we move out of our selvesour own problems and issues. How are you doing at blessing others? Today as you pray, ask God for help in blessing others. Ask God for a perspective of looking to bless others. We never know what opportunities might come before us today. Wednesday, March 14 Read Exodus 19:1-9 The third covenant of the Old Testament was the 10 commandments. The people had just left Egypt and were camped at the base of Mount Sinai. Moses would go up the

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mountain and come back to the people. After spending 40 days on Mount Sinai, Moses shared the 10 commandments with the people. Its worth remembering the 10 commandments. Some of us have memorized them. If you havent, take a moment to read and perhaps even memorize them again. 1. You shall have no other gods before me. 2. You shall not make for yourself an image of God. 3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain 4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 5. Honor your father and your mother 6. You shall not murder. 7. You shall not commit adultery. 8. You shall not steal. 9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 10. You shall not covet your neighbors house Thursday, March 15 Read 2 Samuel 7:1-17 This is the fourth covenant of the Old Testament. God promised David that God would establish a kingdom through Davids descendants. This kingdom would go all the way through Jesus. This promise of God surprised David. David was asking if he should build God a Temple. God had other ideasGod was going to

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establish a kingdom that wasnt attached to a building. God often surprises us tooor at least God is willing to surprise us. Often we arent ready or even willing to be surprised by God. We get into patterns that prevent God from sharing with us a divine surprise. God can certainly work through our own patterns, but most of the time God does not impose on us in a violent way. Instead God invites us to see the surprises God has for us. How willing are you to be surprised by God? As you pray today, pray that you can be open to the movement of God in your life. Pray that you will be looking for the surprises God has for us. Friday, March 16 Read Jeremiah 31:31-34 About six hundred years before Jesus, God shared a new covenant. The promise of the covenant was in verses 33-34: But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. One of the signs of this future covenant was forgiveness. God was going to forgive the people of their sins. Lent is a time where we focus on what separates us from God. In this focus we dont say we are bad peoplewe acknowledge that God has plans for us that we are not fulfilling because of our sins.

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Today as you pray, envision who God is calling you to be. Then think about what is preventing you from fulfilling Gods desires for you. God has ideas about this and is very willing to share. Be open to Gods communication. Saturday, March 17 Read Luke 1:67-80 Zechariah was John the Baptists father. Zechariah received a vision in the Temple that he would have a son. He was struck mute because he didnt initially believe. This story was shared immediately after John was born. Notice how Zechariah mentioned the covenant first given to Abraham. This covenant was still an important part of Jewish life at the time of Jesus. We recognize the covenant through Jesus. As you pray today, pray for a deeper understanding of the covenant. Pray that Jesus will be even more alive to you. Pray that we at Chain of Lakes can share this message with the community.