Making God Smile

MAKING GOD SMILE

(All my sermons use illustrations that can be found at www.sermoncentral.com and all scripture is NIV unless otherwise noted)

A few weeks ago we had Vacation Bible School, a slightly obnoxious camel puppet, from Brooklyn New York, taught the kids lessons about Noah. The first day the lesson was based on a very simple scripture, found in the book of Genesis chapter 6, verse8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. I have always wondered if God looks down upon His children, and cracks a smile.

Here in this one verse is a profound lesson, here we see in the midst of chaos, in the midst of evil and sin and people that had made God so mad He was ready to wipe them out.

Gen 6:5-7 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved that I have made them."

PRAYER

Have you ever looked at you’re your children and thought, “I brought you into this world, and I will bring you out?” I know I have. This scripture says that God saw how bad mankind, that every inclination of every thought was EVIL. ALL THE TIME.

He looked at His children, that which He created and He said, “I am sorry I ever made this mess, time to take out the trash.” But the Bible says, NOAH FOUND FAVOR IN THE EYES OF GOD. I think it is important for you and I to know what that means, the living version of the Bible says that NOAH WAS A PLEASURE TO THE LORD. I looked up the word used for FAVOR and found that it can mean to be a blessing, a pleasure, to be pleased with and favorably disposed toward. This means that Noah was able to do something that we ALL really need to do.

Eph 5:8-10 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord.

We are actually commanded here to FIND OUT WHAT PLEASES GOD.

This morning I want to use our vacation Bible School lesson to discuss three things that scripture says PLEASES GOD.

I. DO WHAT HE SAYS

There are numerous places in the Scripture that tells us simple that we must do what God tells us to do.

James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. How many times have you and I encountered this with our own children? “Bobby, I want your room clean now” “OK Dad, I hear you” Only to find the room still the regular pig sty a week later. “ Betty get your homework done first thing” “Ok Mom, I know, I will get it done now” Only to have the teacher call two days later to tell you that little Betty has not done her homework all week?

It is not enough to listen to what God tells us to do, we must DO IT.

Jesus Himself told us that if we love Him we will do what He says we must do.

John 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command.

We see in the Book of Genesis that this is exactly what Noah did. Gen 7:5 And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.

You know how you smile when your child does what you have asked them to do? This must have been how God felt to look at His faithful servant Noah and see that His child DID everything just as God had asked Him to.

COMPLETE OBEDIENCE! Not half way, not on Noah’s terms, not with shortcuts, but COMPLETE OBEDIENCE.

Folks, we are told to do many things, we are told to OBEY, and yet I can not see that God is smiling when His church won’t do as He has commanded.

Churches who have people who won’t give:

The Bible tells us to give to everyone, give and it will be given to you, give to the poor, it is more blessed to give then receive, give generously, give cheerfully, give of yourselves, and give thanks. GIVE! And yet so many churches don’t give, the people don’t tithe, the money is not there, and the church does not grow. I don’t think God is smiling then.