1. Some of you have been to the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, KY
Ark Encounter is a Christian religious and creationist theme park that opened in Grant County, Kentucky in 2016. The centerpiece of the park is a large representation of Noah's Ark based on the Genesis flood narrative contained in the Bible. It is 510 feet (155 m) long, 85 feet (26 m) wide, and 51 feet (16 m) high.
2. The Noah story is a pivotal one in scripture. It is the breaking point between an old, sinful world and a new start for mankind.
3. Genesis 6:1-22
4. Three “Oddities” and applications
I. An Odd Culture
A. God Created All Things to be “Good” (Genesis 1)
B. God Created Man to be “Very Good” (Genesis 1:26-2:3)
C. Yet, Man Rebelled
1. Adam’s Sin
2. Noah’s World – Genesis 6:5-8
5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
3. How would you classify OUR culture in comparison?
[The Naked Communist by Leon Skousen, 1958 – 45 Communist Goals Included:
• Eliminate all laws concerning obscenity by calling them “censorship” and violation of free speech and press
• Breakdown cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV
• Present homosexuality, degeneracy, and promiscuity as “normal, natural, and healthy”
• Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intelligent maturity which does not need a “religious crutch”
• Eliminate prayer or any religious expression in schools on the ground it violates the separation of church and state
4. Sin is contagious
II. An Odd Man – Genesis 6:8-9
8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. 9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.
A. Noah Stood Out from Others
B. Noah Stood Up for God
1. Built the Ark
2. Preached to His World – 2 Peter 2:5 . . . but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness,
3. An Act of Faith – Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
C. Us? 1 Peter 4:3-4 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you;
III. An Odd Box
A. The Ark = a Big Box
B. There Was Safety in the Box
1. Noah and His Family
2. The Animals
C. Once the Danger Passed They Had to Get “Out of the Box”
1. To Serve God
2. To Rebuild a World
So What?
1. Our Odd, Anti-God Culture – Ron Reagan's Freedom FROM Religion Ad at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7INIhD9P0Pw
[Romans 1:18-32 – “God gave them up”
2. Our Odd Builder – Jesus – Stands apart; Steps up
3. His Odd Building – the Church – Matthew 16:18
a. With Our Help
b. Called – outdated and out of touch – can be
• The Church is a Box of Safety – 1 Peter 3:21 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
• When the danger passes, we have to get out of the box
[What would the ark have been if Noah and family had refused to get out? Their Coffin
“A ship in harbor is safe — but that is not what ships are built for.” — John A. Shedd.
• We Have a Challenging Task
• We Have a Promising Task – Romans 10:15 (cf. Isaiah 52:7) And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Ronald Dembner, an elderly veteran, didn’t have anyone to drive him home after his hospital stay, so attendants called Uber. Lauren Mulvihill showed up and took him home. When she helped him inside, she was shocked at the squalor and filth. Ron couldn’t get around and do the cleaning, and he had no one to help him. Mulvihill, a single mom, couldn’t clean the entire house by herself, so she asked for help on Facebook. Dozens of volunteers showed up. They removed the garbage, hauled out old furniture, and pulled up the ruined carpet. The Facebook page grew to more than eight hundred volunteers, some of whom helped Dembner get healthcare services and social aid. His response: “I don’t know what I did to deserve all of this from all you guys.”
Being a servant of God doesn’t necessarily mean going to a mission field, but in seeing a mission field around you and noticing the needs of others.
“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). [Turning Point by David Jeremiah 10.28.19
