Genesis 9:21
He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.

When reading the account of Noah becoming drunk in Genesis 9, I couldn’t help but wonder why God preserved this event for us. Don’t we typically want to avoid having our worst moments made public? And Noah’s failure isn’t the only example of God’s people messing up!

Abraham twice told others his wife was his sister because he was afraid. The people of Israel directly disobey God and refuse to go into the Promised Land, even after all the miracles of the Exodus! Peter was called out by Paul for hypocritically not associating with Gentile Christians when certain Jews from Jerusalem were present. And Paul reprimanded the church of Corinth for tolerating and even celebrating sin.

Why does God preserve these clear examples of failure in Scripture? Because, even in their failures, we can find comfort.

In his Lectures on Genesis, when commenting on Noah and his drunkenness, Luther writes this: “The first value of this account is that the godly have the comfort they need in their weaknesses, because they see that at times even the saintliest men fell disgracefully as the result of a similar weakness.…Even though such lapses should not be excused, we see that they are profitable to comfort the godly; for they show that God is able to put up with the mistakes and faults of His people. When we are assailed by sins, therefore, we, too, may hope for God’s mercy and not despair.”

God allows us to see the messiness of His people throughout Scripture so that we recognize that the success or failure of His Church on earth does not ultimately depend on us. Not only will His Church never fail (Matthew 16:18), but His love, forgiveness, and grace abound toward those who belong to Him. He continues to work through His people in spite of their failures.

The heroes of Scripture weren’t perfect. They were sinful people, just like you and me. And therein lies the comfort of Scripture’s imperfect saints: their failures remind us that when we fail, we are no different from them. More importantly, God’s forgiveness toward them reminds us that He loves us and forgives us, just as He forgave Abraham, Peter, and the Corinthians.

Our comfort is not that sin doesn’t matter, or that God simply overlooks our failures. Our comfort is that Christ died for sinners, and His forgiveness is greater than our failures.

✝️ Pastor Deming

The full newsletter can be found here:
https://www.faithmoorpark.com/files/pdf/2026/2026-11-Newsletter.pdf

Acts 8:34 - And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”

Last month I spoke about the importance of reading and rereading Scripture because God can give us new insights with each reading. But sometimes you hit a wall. You come across a passage you simply don't understand.

The Ethiopian eunuch was struggling with a passage in Isaiah when God arranged for the Deacon Philip to come and ask him if he understood what he was reading. “How can I unless someone explains it to me?” he says. With only the scroll of Isaiah, he had no way to dig deeper into God's Word. So he asks Philip the question he needed answered: “Who was Isaiah speaking about? Himself or someone else?” He was willing to ask the question he needed answered.

This passage is often used to describe how Christians should do evangelism—start where the person is. This is a good way to do things. But I want to highlight the opposite: the readiness of the eunuch to ask a question. When you read Scripture, do you skip over the parts you don't understand?

I suggest that you stick a Post-it or index card in your Bible, or use the notepad on your phone, so that when you have a question, you can quickly write it down.

This week I was at the 2026 Pacific Southwest District pastors conference. I was sitting next to a pastor who teaches at UC Irvine. When I heard that he taught the Old Testament there, I asked him a question I have carried with me for years.

The actual question doesn't matter, and would be too long for this article. Like every pastor and professor I had asked previously, he said he had never come across my question before. But he had a thought, did a little browsing, and came up with an answer. Now I understand better this one facet of the Old Testament that I wouldn't have if I hadn't kept asking the question.

When Paul and Barnabas had to deal with the question of circumcision for Gentiles, they took the question to the apostles in Jerusalem (Acts 15:1–2).

Asking is a way to learn something new, or perhaps to be reassured that what you understand is correct.

At the beginning of every Bible study, I try to remember to ask if anybody has a question about anything, because providing an answer can help you grow in your understanding of God's ways. Whether you have questions for class or want to run through some privately, I would be very happy to help you find answers.

✝️ Pastor Deming

The full newsletter can be found here:
https://www.faithmoorpark.com/files/pdf/2026/2026-10-Newsletter.pdf