Noah - A Successful Father

Noah: A Successful Father

Chuck Sligh

June 17, 2012

Based loosely on a sermon by Roger Campbell in Preach For a Year, Vol. 2.

POWERPOINT: There is a PowerPoint presentation for this sermon available by requesting it from me at chucksligh@hotmail.com.

TEXT: Genesis 6:5-11 – “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.”

Hebrews 11:7 – “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”

INTRODUCTION

Today is Father’s Day. You know what?—I’m sure glad I’m a man! Guys, do I hear an “Amen” on that?

ICE BREAKER: I read something titled “50 Reasons It’s Good To Be a Man.” – I won’t read them all but I did compiled my own top-10 list of “Why It’s Good to Be a Man”:

Number 1 – You know stuff about tanks.

If someone forgets to invite you to something, he can still be your friend.

You can drop by to see a friend without bringing a little gift.

If another guy shows up at the same party in the same outfit, you might become lifelong buddies.

Guys in hockey masks don’t attack you ... unless you’re playing hockey.

You can admire Clint Eastwood without starving yourself to look like him.

Your pals can be trusted never to trap you with, “So…notice anything different?”

If something mechanical doesn’t work, you can bash it with a hammer and throw it across the room.

Car mechanics tell you the truth.

And the number 1 reason it’s goo to be a man is...(Drumroll): You can go to the bathroom without a support group.

JOKE – You know, it’s just human nature for boys to brag about their dads, isn’t it? Three boys are in the schoolyard bragging about their fathers. The first boy says, “My dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, calls it a POEM, and they give him $50.” The second boy says, “That’s nothing. My dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, calls it a SONG, and they give him $100.” The third boy says, “I got you both beat. My dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, calls it a SERMON, and it takes eight people to collect all the money!”

JOKE – Boys like to think of their dads as big, tough dudes, right? One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small boy into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, “Mommy, I’m scared. Will you sleep with me tonight?” His mother smiled, gave him a reassuring hug and responded, “I can’t dear, I have to sleep in Daddy’s room.” A long silence was broken at last by his shaking little voice: “The big sissy.”

I’m glad we can laugh on Father’s Day, but to God fatherhood is no laughing matter.

The Bible is replete with examples of some of the worst and some of the best fathers.

Noah is an example of a good father. We normally think of him as the guy who built the ark, brought the animals on the ark two by two, and restarted the human race after the catastrophic flood. But he was also a GOOD FATHER. The building of Noah’s ark was probably the most remarkable accomplishment in history up to that time when you look at the dimensions for the ark that are given in the Bible and the lack of power tools in that day. But Noah’s GREATEST accomplishment was his family’s faith!

Noah raised a family in a difficult time. It was an age of wickedness and evil thinking – Genesis 6:5 says, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” –That sounds much like our own day, but Noah proves that a man can be a good father and raise a godly family even in the worst of times. His was also an age of corruption and violence – Genesis 6:11 says, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” – Again that sounds much like our own day; but again, it offers us hope today.