Solemn Promises What is a promise What kind

Solemn Promises • What is a promise? • What kind of solemn promises do people make? Explain what people might promise in two of these examples. *Which of them is the most life-changing? • To define what a Covenant is • To explain how Covenants are life-changing • To explain how Covenants can be made with God Marriage Deathbed Leaving Membership Oath of truthfulness

A Covenant is a solemn promise and a life-changing commitment. 1. Define Covenant. 2. Explain why marriage is a covenant. What makes it serious and life-changing? 3 things. S&C* Would a Covenant change who the person actually is? Explain. I take thee for my lawful wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, forsaking all others until death do us part. With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow: in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. "

Why are these deals not the same as a covenant? • You can get a free phone for £ 20 a month for 18 months, after that the phone is yours. If you want to cancel the contract before then, you have a pay a penalty fee. • You will work 35 hours a week. You will be paid £ 250 a week. Either of us can give one month’s notice to cancel this agreement.

Covenant with God has willed to establish a bond with the human race, to pledge Himself to be our God, and to make us His people. He did this by first choosing an individual, Noah, and made a solemn promise to him to bless all of creation through him. Then he chose another individual, Abraham, and promised to bless him and his family in a particular way, to be their God and bring them blessing: many descendants and land. Later, He re-established His promises to all of Abraham’s race (the Hebrews) through Moses and then again to the whole nation -the Kingdom of Israel through King David. Finally, he established a Covenant open to all the human race and all nations, through Jesus. GOD 1. Draw a flow chart to show all the covenants the God made in the Bible, and how they included more and more people. 2. How do God’s promises change and increase in the last covenant? S&C* Do you think it was a good idea for God to start small and get bigger with His covenants? Why?

“See, I have engraved you on the palm of my hand”. Isa 49: 16 In each Covenant that God makes, He promises by his own self. This means that God’s promise will never be broken (God is always truthful) and will last forever (God is eternal). But the people who become part of God’s covenant, are not as truthful as God is – they are unfaithful to God by their sins, and they even forget their commitment to God completely, by worshipping idols and ignoring His teachings. Why does God make Covenants with people, He knows are incapable of keeping them? How should He deal with them? Write a letter from God to one of His Covenant people. - Explain why God is upset, but not surprised - Explain what God will do about it

Words about Covenant ….