40N E W C O V E N A N T F E L L O W S H I P

( J A N U A RY 1 9 7 6 – J A N U A RY 2 0 1 6 )

WANDERING AND EXILE

• In Scripture–Forty years in the wilderness

EXODUS 16:35 (CEB)

The Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to a livable land. They ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

DEUTERONOMY 2:7 (CEB)

No doubt about it: the LORD your God has blessed you in all that you have done. He watched over your journey through that vast desert. Throughout these forty years the LORD your God has been with you. You haven’t needed a thing.

DEUTERONOMY 8:2-4Remember the long road on which the Lord your God led you during these forty years in the desert so he could humble you, testing you to find out what was in your heart: whether you would keep his commandments or not. He humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you the manna that neither you nor your ancestors had ever experienced, so he could teach you that people don’t live on bread alone. No, they live based on whatever the Lord says. During these forty years, your clothes didn’t wear out and your feet didn’t swell up.

WANDERING AND EXILE

• In Scripture–Forty years in the wilderness–Forty days and nights of flooding–Forty years of captivity under the Philistines

•At NCF

GENERATIONAL AND LEADERSHIP CHANGES• In Scripture

–From Moses to Joshua–From Saul to David to Solomon–From Jesus to the apostles to other disciples

•At NCF

PREPARATION

• In Scripture–Elijah on Mount Horeb

1 KINGS 19:8-9

Elijah got up, ate and drank, and went refreshed by that food for forty days and nights until he arrived at Horeb, God’s mountain. There he went into a cave and spent the night.

PREPARATION

• In Scripture–Elijah on Mount Horeb–Forty days before Nineveh is destroyed

JONAH 3:4-5

Jonah started into the city, walking one day, and he cried out, “Just forty days more and Nineveh will be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and put on mourning clothes, from the greatest of them to the least significant.

PREPARATION

• In Scripture–Elijah on Mount Horeb–Forty days before Nineveh is destroyed–Jesus fasting in the wilderness

MATTHEW 4:1-2

Then the Spirit led Jesus up into the wilderness so that the devil might tempt him. After Jesus had fasted for forty days and forty nights, he was starving.

PREPARATION

• In Scripture–Elijah on Mount Horeb–Forty days before Nineveh is destroyed–Jesus fasting in the wilderness

•At NCF

COMMUNION

• In times of change–Moses hands things over to Joshua

JOSHUA 1:9

I’ve commanded you to be brave and strong, haven’t I? Don’t be alarmed or terrified, because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

COMMUNION

• In times of change–Moses hands things over to Joshua–Jesus hands things over to his disciples

MATTHEW 28:18-20

Jesus came near and spoke to them, “I’ve received all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age.”

COMMUNION

• In times of change–Moses hands things over to Joshua–Jesus hands things over to his disciples

•God is with us