The question I have for you today is this: Why did God choose Noah? When God destroyed the world with a flood, there were approximately one million people living. So Noah was really one in a million.
Why did God choose to work in Noah’s life? Imagine if you were God, what kind of person would you choose to start the human race all over again? Who would you choose if you were God? If God were to make the decision again to destroy the world and start over, would God choose you? Do you believe God can do extraordinary things in your life and the lives of other people here at Bethany? (Discuss)
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The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 16:9 (NLT) "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him."
Or another translation states (NIV) :
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"The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth that he may show himself strong in behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward him."
The story of Noah is in Genesis, the very first book of the Bible. Genesis 6, 7, 8, 9. From it we glean characteristics of the type of person God can work in and through—the type of person demonstrated through Noah’s life.
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The first characteristic we find in Genesis 6:5 and following (v. 8). "Then 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.
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And the Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth and His heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said,
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`I’ll wipe out mankind whom I’ve created from the face of the earth. Man and animals, creatures that move along the ground and birds of the air for I am grieved that I have made them.
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But [and that’s the word you need to circle] Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." God looked down and He found one man’s life that He could work through. Why Noah?
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8:30 Service
In the recent movie, About Schmidt
66-year-old Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) has retired from his job as an insurance actuary. He is miserable, and after his wife (June Squibb) suddenly dies, he is also lost. He travels the country in his RV hoping to stop his daughter’s (Hope Davis) marriage and to find purpose to his life. Throughout the movie he writes his personal thoughts to a 6-year-old African child, Ndugu, that he sponsors for $22 a month.
The movie is drawing to a close and Warren is contemplating the meaninglessness of his life. He arrives home from his travels and sees an international envelope from his foster child.
Show Video clip of Scene -- Start Time: 1:54:50 End Time: 2:00:02:
As Warren is traveling back home in his R.V., he begins contemplating the meaninglessness of his life. (He shares he thoughts in letters to his 6 year old foster child).
Voice Over -
"I know we’re all pretty small in the big scheme of things. I suppose the most you can hope for is to make some kind of difference. But what kind of difference have I made? What in the world is better because of me?"
He briefly explains how he failed in trying to stop his daughter from marrying a loser. Then he says, "I’m weak, and I’m a failure. There’s just no getting around it."
He arrives home and picks up a stack of mail. The voice over continues: "Relatively soon I will die. Maybe twenty years. Maybe tomorrow. It doesn’t matter. Once I am dead and everybody who knew me dies too, it will be as though I never existed. What difference has my life made to anyone? None that I can think of. None at all. Hope things are fine with you. Yours truly, Warren Schmidt."
He sees an international envelope and opens it. The voice over changes to the voice of Sister Nadie Guchier (pronounced Goo-chee-ay).
"Dear Mr. Warren Schmidt. My name is Sister Nadie Guchier of the Order of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart. I work in a small village near the town of Enbaya in Tanzania. One of the children I care for is little Ndugu Emu - the boy you sponsor. Ndugu is a very intelligent boy and very loving. He is an orphan. Recently he needed medical attention for an infection of the eye, but he is better now. He loves to eat melon, and he loves to paint. Ndugu and I wanted you to know he receives all your letters. He hopes you are happy in your life and healthy. He thinks of you everyday, and he wants very much your happiness. Ndugu is only six years old and cannot read or write, but he has made for you a painting. He hopes you will like this painting. Yours Sincerely, Sister Nadine Guchier."
Warren unfolds the paper and stares at it. We then see it. It is a drawing of two stick figures of a boy holding the hand of a man.
Warren stares at it and begins weeping. His tears of grief turn to tears of joy, knowing that his life mattered to a little African orphan boy. The movie ends.
This month at Bethany I want you to think about: What God is doing in the lives of people at Bethany. What is God doing in your life?
8:30—Do you want to wait until your near the end of your life, like in the movie About Schmidt, to realize what God can do in your life?
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You see, if you understand the reasons why God used Noah then you will begin to realize God still wants to work in people’s lives and what he can do through your life and every person here today who is part of the Bethany church family
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So why could God do something great in Noah’s life?—
(These ideas are based on reading of Rick Warren’s works)
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1. NOAH WAS AVAILABLE.
Noah was available.
The longer I’m a Christian, the more I realize God does not need superstars. He simply needs ordinary people who’ll say, "I’ll be used by God. “
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Look at the disciples. They were a bunch of losers by the standards of their day. They were even poor fishermen. Every time Jesus goes to see the disciples, they’re mending their nets. They couldn’t even keep their nets in good shape. But God uses people who are available.
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I want Lois Tucker to come at this time. She is Leader of our Witness Team Ministry. She’s going to talk for a few minutes about her experience at a Conference that some of us attended on the Purpose driven Church and share some thoughts about what God is doing in her life.
[Lois Tucker faith story]
God has been working in Lois’ life because she is available to God.
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Noah was available. And secondly, God worked in Noah’s life because—
2. NOAH DARED TO BE DIFFERENT.
v. 9 in the account of Noah.
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"Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time and he walked with God." He was blameless among the people of his time".
Morally, Noah was a man of deep conviction. He dared to be different. He was not afraid to stand out. He was not afraid to stand alone. He was not afraid of what other people thought. He wasn’t out to win a popularity contest.
Think about the criticism that Noah probably received building the ark. The ridicule from neighbors -- "That Noah is a crackpot! There’s old man Noah out there building a boat."
Then all of a sudden he probably got pressure from his family. How would you like to be Noah’s kids?
Noah was available and he was willing to be different. He was willing to stand out in a crowd. He had conviction.
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What gave him the confidence to be different for so many years? It says in v. 9 "He walked with God." He had fellowship with God.
There’s a third reason God was working in the life of Noah—
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3. NOAH WAS A FULLY COMMITTED FOLLOWER OF GOD.
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Genesis 6:22 "Noah did everything [circle this] just as God commanded." It doesn’t say he did some of the things the way he wanted to. It says he did everything as God commanded.
Gen. 7:5 "And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him." Not some, not partial. He did all. It was obedience.
Obedience is simply another word for faith. You say, "I’ve got a lot of faith." Faith is following instructions even when it doesn’t make sense. The project God gave Noah didn’t make sense.
One of the real tests of faith in life is how do I follow God’s will? Do I follow His instructions even when they don’t make sense? Do I follow His instructions even when I don’t understand it?
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Noah was available. Noah dared to be different. Noah followed God completely. And that’s why God could work in his life. And--
4. NOAH NEVER GAVE UP.
Noah is a key example of patience and persistence and determination. He was a Hard Worker! The Bible says it took Noah 120 years to build the ark.
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Genesis 6:3. The Bible says that God delayed the flood for a period of time. But there is a time limit on what He will take from a disobedient human race. "My spirit will not contend with man forever for he is mortal. His days will be 120 years."
There was a delay for another 120 years. Why? Because that’s how long it took Noah to build the ark. And he had to have it built! God was waiting on Noah to get the ark finished.
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Here’s the question: If you want God to do something in your life, can you maintain enthusiasm for a project that took that long to complete? Do you think you could keep your motivation up? Do you think you could stay excited and keep on keeping on if you knew it was going to take your entire life?
One of the reasons why God does not use many people is because we give up too soon.
God worked in Noah’s life because he was a man of commitment. He never, never gave up. Every day Noah preached a sermon. Every day, as he nailed those nails and built those boards and bent everything into shape, he was saying to the world, "I believe in God."
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I’m going to invite Jerry Sheets, our lay leader to come now and talk about his experience at the recent Purpose Driven Church Conference and to share what God is doing in his life.
[Jerry Sheets faith story]I first saw significant changes in my life over a year ago when Pastor Don first introduced us to the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. I am forty- nine years old going on fifty. I guess you could say I am going through somewhat of a mid-life crisis. I am not sure this period of life affects everybody the same, but with me that message really hit home. I was already thinking "what on earth am I here for". Or more important to me was the thought that if I were to die today, would I have served God and my fellow man to the best of my ability, given my gifts, talents and opportunities.
My first response, as is probably typical of those of us who resist change was "I’m doing OK. I could improve a little, but I am doing OK. I attend church pretty regularly. I go to Sunday School. I give money and usually help out when I’m asked." But in reality, when I looked at myself and reflected on my service, I realized I was a member of this church for me. I like to learn, so I enjoy my Sunday School class, with the different lessons and discussions we have there. I enjoy Don’s sermons and his gift for putting Biblical principles in language that I understand and can apply to my every day life. I truly enjoy the friendships I have made here and the love that can be seen and felt that those who attend here have for one another. The music! I could attend Bethany for the music alone. This church is blessed with such talent. I enjoy and benefit from the Men’s Prayer Breakfast each month. I am blessed and truly humbled by being with such a group of men with hearts for God.
So you can see, it’s been all about me. What am I getting from being here? How does it serve me? What do I like? What don’t I like? I like it here and I am comfortable here. The Course on the Purpose Driven Life made me uncomfortable though. I began comparing what I was getting to what I was giving.
Then I attended the Purpose Driven Church, which helped me see answers to some of the questions I was having as to how I could serve. The message was basically this… to grow a great church requires a great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.
The great Commandment; Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. That is fairly easy for me. God has truly blessed me. The second part, love your neighbor as yourself, is not as easy. It is hard to love everybody all the time. Let’s face it, some people are harder to love than others. It’s not always easy to love yourself. The Great Commission, to go and make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to do everything I have commanded you. That’s the tough one. That is where I have really fallen short.
Traveling to the Purpose Driven Church conference helped me to understand what a church really needs to do to meet that commitment. And just as exciting as hearing how we can do it, was sharing the excitement with those who went. We talked about the challenge we feel God has given Don for Bethany and the people and resources we have for moving our church forward.
I brought back four things with me from that conference.
· If a church is not growing, it cannot be fulfilling the Great Commission.
· The commitment for finding ways to reach those in our community who need the Word needs to come from all of us here, not just the Pastor. He cannot do it alone.
· We all have gifts and talents and we need to develop them and use them for the overall purpose of reaching out to others.
· The model exists. Rick Warren knows how to do it. He grew Saddleback from a congregation of two, he and his wife, to three, adding the real estate agent that helped him find his apartment, to a church with regular attendance between 17,000 and 20,000 every weekend. Not that that is anything we would want, or expect, here at Bethany. We have our own mission. God knows what it is. We just need to seek it.
As a follow up, a group of us went to Northern Virginia with Pastor Don last Sunday to visit two churches following the Purpose Driven Church model. Both were very different from each other, but they both were proof that the model works. In both churches there were lots of people doing all sorts of jobs. They all appeared joyful. They were all doing their part in God’s work and they were excited about doing it.
So I guess to tie this all up, what I want to say is I love this church and I love the people here. But it’s not here just for me. It’s here for all of us. But it’s not here just for us either. It is here for those who have not attended here yet. And it’s here for some who have not even heard of us yet. It’s here for those we have been called to reach.
So that is what God is doing in my life right now. He is making me uncomfortable with my service to him so far. He is helping me to more clearly see his purpose, which is continuing Christ’s work in reaching the unsaved. And he has put me in search of how he wants to use me to do my part in the process. [End of Jerry’s faith story]
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What has God been doing in your life lately? I’m not talking about last year. I mean last week. Last month. When was the last time you had an answered prayer. When was the last time God used you in an exciting way to help somebody?
Will you find God’s purpose and plan for your life, just as Lois and Jerry are discovering it and so many others here at Bethany?
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Number one, will you say today, "Lord, I’m available"?
Number two, could you dare to be different? You say, "Lord, I’m willing to follow You no matter what."
Number three, will you commit yourself to God’s plan, to follow it even when you don’t understand it.
Then number four, how persistent are you? One of the tests of faith is how long can you wait. Do you keep on keeping on?
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There’s an epilogue to Noah’s life. In Genesis 9. The Bible says that here was this man who lived blameless all of his life, the only godly man in all the world that had faith, persistence, availability and all these great things that God says about him. He built the ark and after the flood when the land dried out, it says he built a vineyard and fermented the grapes. He got drunk, took off all of his clothes and made a fool of himself. He got drunk and he got naked. Why? He had a spotless record and then at the end of his life, he blew it. Why?
The Bible tells the truth even when it hurts. And Noah, blows it. That’s kind of a downer.
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But on the other hand I think it’s an encouragement too. Because it reminds me that God works in the lives of ordinary people. If Noah had never had anything wrong in his life, we’d say, "He’s too perfect. I could never be a Noah." That’s the kind of God I worship. The kind of God who is forgiving. He says you can start over. I don’t care how many times you’ve blown it, God can still work in the rest of your life. I don’t care what mistakes you’ve made, I don’t care how many times you’ve fallen flat on your face, you’re not a failure just to fall. You’re a failure if you refuse to get up.
Maybe you don’t like your looks and feel like you need an extreme makeover.
I don’t care what your hang up is, everybody has at least one. But that does not disqualify you from being used by God. If God worked only in perfect people who would God work through? God works in the lives of ordinary people.
Isn’t that’s good news for you and me today?
Prayer:
Maybe some of you have never thought in your entire life that God work in your life. You think, "That’s for missionaries or pastors or super saints." No. God used Noah and he even blew it at the end of his life. The lesson is that even godly people can be tripped up before the finish line so we have to be constantly on watch. The Bible says, "He who stands let him take heed lest he fall."
Could I invite you to make four commitments in your heart today. One, "God, I want to be available to You. Work in my life.” Some of you may need to say, "Lord, really down in my heart I’m a chicken. It scares me to death to admit that I’m a Christian around other people who aren’t believers. God, I need some intestinal fortitude. I need some strength, some encouragement so that I will dare to be different, I will dare to stand up for what’s right. Not to be offensive, not to be obnoxious but not to be ashamed that I am a Christian around the people I work with or relatives." Then would you say, "Lord, help me to follow You completely even when I don’t understand it, even when it doesn’t make sense." How about persistence? Would you say, "Lord, help me to be a persistent person, not to be a cop out, not to be a drop out, but to keep on keeping on, doing the things that I know are right even when I don’t feel like it." Maybe you’d say, "Lord, help me to master my moods."
Noah walked with God. That’s what Jesus Christ came to make possible—for you to be able to walk with God. In your heart right now you can talk to Him. You don’t have to pray aloud. Just in your heart say, "Jesus Christ, I want to have a relationship with God. God, I want to follow You as much as I know how. I admit that I haven’t always done that in the past, but I want You to be number one in my life."
Father, thank You for the example of Noah. Thank You, that it is just as true today that You do things in people who are available, who dare to be different, who follow You completely, and who never give up. Thank You. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Response Tab
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I want to quickly share with you some opportunities for mission here at Bethany
Be apart of the Apple Dumpling gang—go see Bulletin Board
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Bethany’s teens are sponsoring this important mission for Christmas.
Operation Christmas Child sends a message of hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and Christian literature. This program provides an opportunity for individuals of all ages to be involved in a simple, hands-on missions project that reaches out to suffering children while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas—Jesus Christ, God’s greatest gift. In 2002, Samaritan’s Purse collected over 6 million shoe boxes worldwide and distributed them to children in about 95 countries.
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Talk with the youth or contact one of their leaders to laearn how you can help but the steps are simple—
1. Find an empty shoe box. (You can wrap it—lid separately—if you would like, but wrapping is not required.)
2. Decide whether your gift will be for a boy or girl and choose an age category: (2-4), (5-9), or (10-14). Attach the appropriate BOY/GIRL LABEL on the TOP of your box and mark the correct age category.
3. Fill your shoe box with a variety of gifts: Toys: small cars, balls, dolls, stuffed animals, plastic kazoos, harmonicas, yo-yos, small Etch A Sketch®, toys that light up or make noise (with extra batteries), Slinky, etc. School supplies: pens, pencils and sharpener, crayons or markers, stamps and ink pad sets, coloring books, writing pads or paper, solar calculators, etc. Hygiene items: toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, comb, washcloth, etc. Other: hard candy, lollipops, mints, gum, sunglasses, flashlights with extra batteries, ball caps, socks, T-shirts, toy jewelry sets, hair clips, watches, small picture books, etc.
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Next week—Part 2 of what God is doing in people’s lives at Bethany.
I’ll talk about Jabez. Remember him? We talked about him in the past here at Bethany. Jabez was a man who literally stood out in a crowd. In a list of over 600 names, God singled out this one man for special recognition. What made Jabez so special? What can you learn from this man that will help you learn how to allow God to do some great things in your life. See you then—invite a friend.
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And 2 of our Musicians will share what their experience of what God has been doing in their lives—Becky and Dale.
Let’s give back to God.
