Marilyn's Musings
September 15, 2026
“I Noah A Guy”. We can all say this after Pastor’s sermons the last two weeks. But, “this guy” we have known all our lives. We have been brought up with the story of Noah and the ark. God spoke to him directly and gave him exact directions of what to do. We learned about that last week. Now, after the storm, what does he see, but a beautiful Rainbow.
After the great flood, Noah, his family, and the animals emerge from the ark to a renewed earth. In this passage, God establishes a covenant with Noah, his descendants, and all living creatures, assuring them that a flood of such catastrophic proportions will never occur again (Genesis 9:8-11). This covenant is unconditional, meaning it does not depend on human obedience but is a divine promise of mercy and protection for all creation
Genesis 9:8-17 describes God’s covenant with Noah, promising never again to destroy all life on earth by flood, with the rainbow as its sign. A Rainbow is called a “Hunters Bow” or “Warriors Bow”. The way God places it in the sky with an arch pointing to the sky is God’s promise that He will never again destroy all life on earth by a flood. God made this promise to Noah but it was meant for everyone. God’s promises can be individual for each one of us. How wonderful is that!!
I have to thank Pastor Debbie for her sermons on Noah's Ark. I didn’t realize how much there was to learn from that story. But now we all know – “We Noah a Guy” and I don’t think we will ever forget the meaning of that statement.
Moving on to another subject – Old North Thrift Shoppe had an amazing sale this past Saturday. It was so much fun to see our old friends. We were greeted with hugs and catch-up stories of our summer vacations. We had some new people come and they were surprised at what we had for them to browse through. We are blessed in so many ways working on this mission for the Old North. We take in donations and price them and put them out for sale and “they” find new homes with our customers. That enables us to follow God’s mission and pass on the goodness from our sales to others who need help. People wait in line outside for quite a while to come in so we can control the crowds. We want to make shopping by us comfortable where there is room and time to look at everything. For those who wait patiently, we thank you. We have some great fall sales coming up and we hope you can hold on to your patience and wait because we are trying to make it worth your while. This weekend was another great weekend at Old North. I am looking forward to hearing more sermons from Pastor Debbie and to participate in Old North’s mission at the Thrift Shoppe.
The Old North Church is blessed in so many ways and we are thankful. I am going to start a little early with the hymns we usually sing around Thanksgiving but I feel this is perfect for today. “Now Thank We All Our God”. I am thanking God for our Thrift Shoppe Mission this weekend, for the Food Drive we have every month and for Pastor Debbie knowing how to pass on His words to us and continue to show us His love. That’s a lot to be thankful for.
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=42ZqYk1YwRA&si=qyIVHR0k807WHRnn
What were you doing 25 years ago today? No one ever thought our world would be turned upside down in 3 days. No one realized how much hate was in the world that 9/11 could happen. How? Why?
How did it happen? My thoughts are simply that no one thought planes would be used as weapons. Who would do that? Someone filled with hate and that answers the question “Why?”. And, as I go a little further today thinking about it – what did those people that did that to us expect to happen? How did they think the United States of America would go on? Would react? Remember how close we all became after that day? You saw American Flags all over the place. Everyone had one flying outside their house or their business. We played patriotic songs. Here we are 25 years later and are still here with the love of our country. We will never forget 9/11. My flag is flying. I burn a candle outside for 24 hours every year in memory of those who lost their lives. Let’s say a prayer for peace, not only on 9/11 but every day and have faith in God that He is listening.
I’d like to talk about Pastor’s sermon this past Sunday, as I often do. As you all know I enjoy her sermons and this week was no different. I loved the title “I Noah Guy, Flooded with Faith”. How could that not grab you to see where she goes with it! God knew what plans He had for Noah before he was even born. He knew Noah would listen to Him and have faith in God and build the ark as he was asked to. I wonder whether Noah had questions or had doubts or was his faith that strong that he just did what he was asked. Imagine today getting a message from God telling anyone of us to build an ark! But maybe that is what the world needs. I don’t mean to actually build an ark but think about who would be chosen to do that? Another thought – how would we go about “building an ark” in our minds? Could we do it? And then gather the animals? (I am sorry God, but spiders? Mosquitoes? Do I have to take them? – that would be my question) And another question I have that Pastor did talk about – the flood covered the whole world? Is it the world as we know it? Or was it the just area that people then knew about? She did talk about that on Sunday and I felt like I “grew up” a bit. I only pictured, as a child would, the area of the Middle East. Let’s see what she talks about on Sunday. I am looking forward to it.
As we get busy in the fall season, you will be hearing a lot about different things happening at the church. This week the ladies of the Thrift Shoppe are going to be very busy setting up for our September sale. I have already put videos on Facebook of the work that has been going on in the Crystal Room and Annex this summer. I’ve changed the names of the rooms to have some fun. The annex in the back is called “Entertaining on a Shoe-String” and has some beautiful items for entertaining. Sometimes it's fun just to “dress up” the table if you are having friends over or celebrating a special family occasion. Check it out. The Crystal Room is now full of holiday and seasonal items for the fall. “Seasonal Holiday Magic” starts with the fall holiday of Halloween, goes to Thanksgiving and general fall decorations and moves on to Christmas and Hanukkah. There is something in that room for almost everyone. As the week goes on you will see the great videos from Fellowship Hall with Toys, Jewelry, Clothing, and everyday items. It is so much fun setting up and making things look special. We hope to see a lot of our friends on Saturday.
One last note, we will be worshiping outside on Sunday and welcome anyone who is walking by to join us. There is plenty of room. We can celebrate together and then there is a BBQ planned for socializing afterwards. Hopefully we will meet some new people in town as they stop to get their morning coffee and decide to sit and join us. Everyone is welcome.
I am going to pay my respects for 9/11 for choosing a Patriotic Song to sing this week. Join me and remember.
Let’s sing loudly so our neighbors will hear and remember “America, the Beautiful”
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=MAU2TgfZAcc&si=18fEV51yjml8WXnn
