Noah, A Dad Who Saved His Family Series

Noah, A Dad That Saved His Family

#biblicalheroes

OKAY – this morning we are kicking off a new series for Summer 2016 called, ‘Heroes, Amazing Stories Of Faith…’

AND – what we will be doing from now until the end of Summer is looking at a different biblical hero each week to see what they can teach us(teach you and I) about our faith and about following after hard after Jesus…

R/L – I am ready to learn.

AND LISTEN – the bible is full of heroes, full of stories of men and women whose lives were recorded with the intent to challenge, inspire, encourage, motivate and sometimes even warn us in our faith journey.

IN FACT – there is an entire chapter in the New Testament that lists some of the Biblical heroes whose lives were intended to be a source of inspiration and encouragement to the church…

TO – endure, to keep moving forward – no matter what this world throws at us. BECAUSE – this is exactly what these believers did.

Check out – this words from Hebrews 11…

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised;

They only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.

People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.

Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them… - Hebrews 11:13-16

NOW – this great chapter of faith briefly recounts the stories of Able, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Joseph, Moses, Rahab and mentions others like – Gideon, Samson, Jephthah, David and Samuel.

AND THEN – the God-inspired writer says…

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down,

especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

– Hebrews 12:1

NOW – I decided that this would be a great series of conversations for Summer 2016 for several reasons…

1. We need some heroes in our lives the we can emulate

2. We all need to be reminded of or to hear their faith stories again

3. Because each week kind of just stands on it’s own… (which is great for a summer series when so many go on vacations or go on mission trips)

BUT – let me say this even if you are gone I would encourage you to…

1. Still listen each week

2. If possible find a church to attend while gone

3. Remember to continue to give even when you are gone

Online giving…etc

NOW SINCE – it’s Father’s Day… I thought it would be great to kick off this series by talking about a Hero who was also a dad.

SO – a few weeks back I began my search for an example of a really great biblical Father… AND – do you know what?

I quickly realized that there are no examples in the bible of a dad who was perfect.

I MEAN – all had some ‘dad flaws’ except maybe Joseph the stepdad of Jesus. BUT – then again our info about Him is very limited.

For example…

• Adam – raised a son who wound up murdering his brother

• Abraham – the great father of Israel kicked his firstborn teenage son (Ishmael) a son he had with a woman who was not his wife into the wilderness with his mother Hagar, Ishmael was probably a rising freshman in High School at the time. I MEAN - Abraham just walked out of his sons life and never saw him again.

• Aaron - (you know Moses brother, the guy of golden calf fame) well his parenting skills or lack thereof lead to the death of his two sons….

• Isaac – made it obvious that he loved one son (Esau) more because he was hairy and like to hunt than he did his other son (Jacob) who preferred to stay at home more. And this let to intense hatred and separation between Esau and Jacob.

• Jacob – unfortunately fel;l into the same trap that he grew up in and he loved one son (Joseph) more than the others and this led to his brothers selling him into slavery and telling their dad that their ‘favorite’ son was dead.

• Samuel – the great prophet was such a permissive dad, letting his sons do whatever they wanted, so that when they were older they accepted bribes and perverted justice.