When the Church is a Boat

SCRIPTURE: A collection of scripture passage speaking of boats, including resources for further reading!

Genesis 5:11- 6:29
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence….13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them….14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood;…
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him. [And when the floods had come and gone and had done their work…] 15 God said to Noah, 16 “Come out of the ark….” 18 So Noah came out…. 20 Then Noah built an altar to [God].

Exodus 1:22-2:1-4
22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.” 2:1 Now…a Levite woman, 2 …gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

Book of Jonah (an amazing adventure in 4 chapters…)
…in which a boat delivers Jonah to the belly of the whale.

Mark 4:35-41
35 When evening came, Jesus said to the disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.”… 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.
The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

Matthew 4:18
18 As Jesus walked alongside the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, throwing fishing nets into the sea, because they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.”

Acts 27-28
Extra reading for those of you craving adventure! Paul and company are shipwrecked off the coast of Malta (an archipelago in the Mediterranean – between Italy and Morocco). Talk about a rough crossing! (Presaged in Psalm 107:23-32!)

[ ] indicate text is altered for gender neutrality or clarity.