God Rescues Noah

Introduction
My church is preparing for Vacation Bible School in a few weeks so I want to look at the 5 famous Bible stories we will be covering during the 5 days of VBS.  In this blog, I'll share the story for the first day – God Rescues Noah, God keeps His promises.

Genesis 6:17-22
¹⁷ “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. ¹⁸ But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives. ¹⁹ Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. ²⁰ Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive. ²¹ And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.”

²² So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.

Was There Really a Worldwide Flood?
There is ample evidence, even outside the Bible, of a tremendous flood that devastated the Biblical world sometime in the ancient past.  Scientists describe the earth at the end of the last major ice age as a time of great flooding.  Geological evidence confirms it.  Glaciers melted and caused the oceans to rise some 400 feet.  (Look up… Football field… 40 story building…)

The Black Sea, once a freshwater lake, was flooded by sea water after the last ice age. 
It is now sat water.  The ruins of hundreds of villages now lie beneath water in the Black Sea,
the Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf, and in many other places around the world—including Japan, China, and Thailand.

Flooding at the dawn of human civilization was terrible and catastrophic and survives in the memories of hundreds of cultures all around the world—The Epic of Gilgamesh from Ancient Mesopotamia, the ancient Greeks had a flood story, the Hindus have a deluge tale in India, as well as flood stories by the Aztecs in Mexico, and Native Americans.  These stories have all striking similarities to the Noah story in the Bible—including boats, birds, animals, and heroes interacting with gods.  If that many cultures from around the world remember a great flood, it's worth taking it serious. 

God Keeps His Promises
But what does God want us to get from the story in the Holy Bible?  A major theme from the Noah and the flood story is God keeps His promises. The sign of God’s faithfulness is the rainbow.

A lot of people ask, “How could a good God do something so terrible as flood the whole earth?  You could ask the same thing of a doctor who amputates a person’s leg.  Why would they do such a horrible thing as cutting off a leg?  Well, if the leg was so badly injured or infected that keeping it would jeopardize the whole body, then the most caring thing a doctor could do would be to cut off the leg.  And that’s what God saw when He looked at His world.  Creation was so evil, the best thing to do was destroy what was too far gone and preserve what was salvageable:  Noah, his family, and the animals on the Ark. 

Despite humanity’s sin, which corrupted God’s beautiful creation and broke our relationship with God, God didn’t give up on us.  He promised to save the world and He kept His promise.  And God started with Noah and his family.  And God also saved the animals. God is always working to save us.  And God keeps His promises.  But we must trust God and obey

Noah had to trust God.  God told Noah to build an ark. If Noah didn’t do it, he couldn’t be saved.  But Noah trusted God and obeyed and he was saved.  Noah’s obedience also saved his family and the animals. When we trust God and obey, it doesn’t just change our lives; it has the potential to change our family, our community, and even the environment around us.  But we have to trust God to keep His promises and we have to obey.

The Dove
There’s another important symbol in the story—the dove.  In Genesis 8, we learn the flood was so great the water covered the earth for 5 months.  Then the Ark came to rest on Mount Ararat, but only mountain peaks were visible for another 2.5 months.  How would Noah know when it was safe to leave the Ark?  He couldn’t see far enough to know.

Eventually, Noah opened a window and released 2 birds.  Do you know what they were?  He released a raven and a dove.  I don’t know why Noah released a raven.  I need to research that.  I'm sure the Bible says that for a reason.  One reason may be that ravens eat carrion, and there would have been a lot of dead carcasses floating around.  The Bible doesn't tell us anything else about the raven, but that tantalizing mention of it makes me want to know more.

On the other hand, we know why the dove was released.  A dove prefers to walk on dry land.  The dove could fly around and see things Noah and his family couldn’t see and if it didn't find a dry place to land, it would return to the Ark.  Genesis 8:9 says, “The dove could find no place to land because the water still covered the ground. So it returned to the boat.”  Seven days later, Noah released the dove again and it returned with an olive branch.  It had found something, but not enough to live on.  So Noah waited seven more days and released the dove again.  This time the dove did not return.  That meant there was dry land outside for the bird to walk on. 

In the New Testament, the dove represents the Holy Spirit.  When Jesus was baptized, a dove descended upon Jesus and God said, “This is my beloved Son, who brings me great joy.” (Matthew 3:16-17)  And the gospels indicate the dove was the Holy Spirit. 

Did you know that every Christian who follows Jesus as their Lord has the Holy Spirit of God living inside them?  In John 14:15-17, Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.”  The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth.  The Holy Spirit guides us.  And 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, "Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit."

Finding Our Way
Do you ever feel lost?  I mean, we just can’t see what the future holds.  We don’t know what’s up ahead.  There might be a flood in our future or some sickness, or another pandemic.  We don’t know, but Christians have an asset the rest of the world doesn’t.  We have the Holy Spirit to show us the way.  

When we pray and ask God to lead us into the unknown future, it’s like a window and releasing a dove.  The Holy Spirit, who sees what we can’t see, tells us what to do.  But we’ve got to be in tune.  We’ve got to be listening.  We do that through daily prayer and walking with God. When we walk with Jesus daily, and practice reading the Scriptures, praying, fasting, worshiping, then we grow more accustomed to hearing the Spirit’s voice and following where He leads. 

And just like Noah, we have to trust God and obey.  If the Spirit says build an ark. Build and ark.  If the Spirit says, get off the boat, get off the boat.  If the Spirit says, talk to that person over there.  Talk to them.  If the Spirit says, help with VBS.  You better help!  

Now, when the Spirit says do something, you may not understand why.  It may seem like the silliest thing in the world.  You may even think, “I’m not gonna do that!  That doesn't make any sense.”  But you can’t see what the Holy Spirit sees.  So you better just trust the Spirit and obey. 

Closing
Noah trusted God and was saved—he and his whole family and all the animals.  After it was all over, they all left the boat.  And Noah built and altar and worshiped the Lord.  And the Lord was pleased and made a covenant (a divine agreement) with Noah and his family.  

In Genesis 9:12-16, God said, “¹² I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. ¹³ I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. ¹⁴ When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, ¹⁵ and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. ¹⁶ When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.”

God made a covenant with Noah and the sign was the rainbow.  Then later, Jesus came to make a New Covenant with people.  John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”  The sign of the New Covenant is Holy Communion, which represents the body and blood of Christ offered for us on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.  If you trust Christ, repent of your sins, and follow Jesus as Lord, you will be forgiven and saved for eternal life.  So repent of your sins, believe in Jesus, and decide to follow Him today, because God keeps His promises.

Fear is and Opportunity

Introduction
Halloween is just around the corner.  It’s a holiday full of monsters and frightening characters.  Scary movies are shown on TV and in movies.  It's not meant to glorify or celebrate fear or evil.  Halloween is a chance to have a little fun with our fears.  Making light and laughing at our fear and the monsters who scare us is a way for people to cope with real fear. 

The scary monster jumps out on the movie screen, everyone screams, and popcorn flies through the air, but then we laugh.  “They got me!”  We’re relieved and endorphins flood through our body and we laugh, because it’s entertainment.  We know the monster isn’t real and, subconsciously, we’re happy that monsters aren’t real and we don’t really have to be afraid.

However, there are also real fear in life.  What are you afraid of?  When did you first notice your fear?  Was it triggered by something?  Does your fear keep you from doing something you want to of need to do?

Today, we will see that fear is an opportunity.  The Apostle James wrote in the New Testament to encourage a small group of Christians living in a scary, hostile world who faced ridicule, persecution, arrest, exile, and even death simply because they believed Jesus was the Son of God who rose from the dead.  Listen to what he said. 

James 1:2-4
² Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. ³ For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

Fear is an Opportunity
Fear is an opportunity, because fear tests your faith.  When God asks you to do something, it is often scary because it challenges you to step out of our comfort zones and do something beyond our natural ability.   

God called me to preach and pastor, but it’s not natural to me (well, at least it wasn’t natural to me in beginning).  I’m shy.  I’m nervous around large crowds of people.  I don’t even like to go to Walmart if it’s particularly crowded.  Standing up in front of a group people to speak is not normal for me.  If you'd told me I was going to be a preacher when I was 18, I would have said you were crazy.  That's not me.  I even remember one time freezing up at a youth Sunday event trying to give the announcements when I was only 22.   

Still, God called me to preach when I was 23.  It was an “opportunity”.  I was afraid to do it.  When I finally got up the courage to say yes, I found out my wife was afraid  too.  At first, she said "no", point blank.  She said she was not cut out to be a preacher's wife.  She felt she didn't have the bubbly personality of the stereotypical preacher's wife.  However, God made my me and our wife the way He did for a reason and then He called us into the ministry.  He chose us for His own reasons. Eventually, our faith overcame our fear and we said yes to God's plan and we’ve ministered now for 21 fruitful years in 4 churches.  

God promised to give the Israelites the Promised Land—a land flowing with milk and honey.  But in order to realize the Promise, they had to trust God despite their fears.  Last week, we learned how their lack of faith (because there were giants and fortified cities in the Promised Land) led to their wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.  Finally, when a new and more faithful generation arose, God led the Israelites to finally enter the Promised Land.  But they still needed faith and courage.  The Lord appointed Joshua as the new leader of His people.  And he said:

Joshua 1:5-9
⁵ No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.

⁶ “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. ⁷ Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. ⁸ Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. ⁹ This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Why Must We Face Fear?
Have you ever wondered why God didn’t just give the Israelites the Promised Land?  I mean, If He’s an all-powerful God, why didn’t God just hand the Land to the Israelites?  Why did they even need to be “strong and courageous” and fight to win the Promised Land?

The Israelites had to test their faith in God by facing their fear and overcome trials and hardships through the conquest of the Promised Land.  Yes, God could have just given the Land to the Israelites (He had the right and power to do it), but it would have robbed the Israelites of an critical opportunity.

Looking back at James 1:2-4.  Simply giving the Land to the Israelites would have robbed them of the opportunity “for great joy.”  It would denied them the chance to grow their endurance and to be perfect and complete, needing nothing. 

When you face your own fears, it is an opportunity for great joy.  For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow!  For when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.  When we face our fears, we grow stronger, learn more about ourselves, and draw closer to God.[i]  We learn to depend upon God and we find out God is bigger than any of our fears.  In Christ we see that even death itself cannot defeat God.  Therefore, death cannot defeat us because we belong to God in Christ. 

What is Your Promised Land?
What is your Promised Land?  For the Israelites who descended from slaves who lived in Egypt and then wandering nomads in the dessert, their Promised Land was a place to truly call their home—an abundant land where they could settle down and build homes and grow their own food and live at peace with their children and worship their God.  That was their Promised Land, but what’s yours?

You need a reason overcome your fear.  There are a lot of different fears that can plague a person’s life.  Some are scared of snakes or spiders or flying and maybe you don’t have to face all of your fears.  If your fear of snakes or spiders or flying doesn’t keep you from entering your “Promised Land”, then it may not really be a big deal.  In other words, if your fear of “whatever” doesn’t keep you from living a full life and doing the things God wants you to do, then maybe it doesn’t really matter.  If you're afraid of spiders, but your husband or wife will can kill them for you, then why do you need to overcome your fear.  (So, I’m saying you don’t necessarily have to face ALL your fears.) 

I want you to focus on those fears that are keeping you from being all and doing all that God wants you to do.  So if you’re afraid of flying, just don’t fly.  Simple.  But what if God is calling you to go visit your son who lives so far away that driving there isn’t a practical option.  Well see, now you’ve got to face your fear.  If your fear of standing up in front of people to preach is stopping you from saying “Yes” to God when He says, “I want you to be a preacher,” then you’ve got to face your fear. 

If you can’t live at peace with God and with each other because some “fear” stands between you and your “Promised Land”, then you’ve got to trust God to help you conquer your fear.  Otherwise, you will be stuck "wandering in the wilderness" the rest of your life. 

Is Jesus Your Lord
The biggest fear of all (something that I pray will keep you up at night until you finally make peace with it) is whether or not Jesus is truly Lord of your life.  The Truth is, Jesus is Lord of all.  “He existed in the beginning with God.  God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.” (John 1:2-3)

Unfortunately, not everyone accepts Jesus as Lord.  They may say Jesus is Lord with their lips, but they do not obey Jesus as Lord.  Their allegiance is not to Him above all else.  Some reject Christ all together.  Others pay lip services, claiming Jesus is Lord, but they try to control what parts of their life they give to Jesus and what parts they keep for themselves.  “But to all who believe in him and accepted him, he gives the right to become children of God.” (adapted from John 1:12) 

If Jesus is truly your Lord, you have nothing to fear.  Even when death comes (for it comes for us all), we still have nothing to fear because we have eternal life.  For those who reject Jesus as Lord, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  You won’t be able to excuse yourself by saying, “I never rejected the Lord!”  If you never intentionally gave your life to Jesus and chose to obey Him as Lord, you may hear Him say to you as He said in Matthew 7:23, “I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws."  Or you may hear as in Matthew 25:30, “Throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

It doesn’t have to be that way.  You can face the biggest fear today.  Chose  to serve Jesus as Lord.  Chose to let Him be your only Lord and Lord of your whole life.  Don’t try to hold back different parts from Him.  Let Jesus be Lord of all.  Choose to obey Him, 100%.  Go where He leads you.  Do what He asks.  Let His mission be your mission—even if it scares you.  Trust Him to see you through—all the way into eternity.  Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.  “Love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear.” (1 John 4:18) 

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[i] https://hebrews12endurance.com/face-your-fears/#How_to_Face_Your_Fears_Head-on