Sermon Cloud

So last week we were looking at the controversial subject of creation and this week were in even more deep water – the flood. But in these days of amazing science and understanding, can you really believe that the whole world was flooded? I mean it’s quite big isn’t it? Well we’ll check that out in a bit, but first we’ll sing again

• Worship
• Worship
• Prayer

Quotes

Reading: Genesis 6 starting at verse 5

⁵ The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. ⁶ So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. ⁷ And the Lord said,“I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” ⁸ But Noah found favour with the Lord.

⁹ This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. ¹⁰ Noah was the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

 ¹¹ Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. ¹² God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. ¹³ So God said to Noah,“I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth!

 ¹⁴ “Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. ¹⁵ Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. ¹⁶ Leave an 18-inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper.

 ¹⁷ “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. ¹⁸ But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives. ¹⁹ Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. ²⁰ Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive. ²¹ And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.”

²² So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.

Discussion

So we’ve had chance to have a chat and talk through what we think – so what do we think?

OK – So let’s go back to what our reading said and check out some of the questions our discussion has raised, and whilst we’re about it work out what on earth this has got to do with us today.

So things had got so bad in just a few hundred years that it was verging on being completely evil. and it broke God’s heart. Not because He didn’t know that this would happen, He knew, that people would make bad choices, if they ever made choices without Him, but what broke his heart was that He also knew that their choices would kill them, you know that’s pretty much the same today – some crazy things are done when God is pushed out of the picture, with some crazy consequences.

But then there was good old Noah and his family – the only ones to stick with God.

So then we see that God – had had enough – now when I say that God had had enough, I don’t mean that He was getting more and more wound up and suddenly snapped – God is not like that.

No when I say God had had enough, I mean that He had given the men and women of that day a long time to turn away from all of the stuff that was doing them harm and to turn back to Him, but they didn’t, instead they had become corrupt and filled with violence. Verse 12 says: God saw everyone on earth was corrupt. So God saw that enough was enough, Noah and his family needed saving.

So God told Noah his plan, and told him to build an ark not like this – here are the instructions:

 ¹⁴ “Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. ¹⁵ Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. ¹⁶ Leave an 18-inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper. So more like this

and then we read that Noah had to collect a couple of all the animals and plenty of food for all of them.

And that Noah did everything God told him to. Now if you know the rest of the story you’ll know that after a number of years of building and collecting, the ark is ready and full, it starts to rain and Noah and Mrs Noah and the whole family get in the ark, there is a huge flood and after a very long time the Ark ends up on a huge mountain in what’s now on the borders of Iran, Turkey and Armenia, called Ararat.

Yes OK I know, that all sounds a bit simplistic, and vaguely like a fairy story, at least that’s what some have said. They’ve said:

1.     Just a silly story:

Well it might sound that way, but there are stories of a great flood from Europe, China, India, North America, South America, Australia, Greenland, Polynesia, in fact from every part of the world.

2.     OK but where did all the water come from?

Well the bible says that the water came from under the earth and from torrential rain.

And here’s an interesting scientific fact, did you know that at the top of Mount Everest there are fossils and shell of fish?

Science and the bible agree that there was a time when even mountains had water over them.

You sea the flood would have been a huge catastrophic event, water moved from under the earth, landmasses moved, cracks deepened the whole world would have moved.

3.     Where did all the water go?

Now to me it would seem logical that it went back to where is came from, but how could it all disappear so quickly? Well I don’t know, but we do know how quickly things can disappear in earthquakes and how tsunamis can flood very fast, and again there’s interesting fossil evidence, for instance in 1970 an 80-foot long whale skeleton was found standing on its tail in the middle of an earth quarry in California, as if suddenly pulled down, and across the world there are places where there are a real mix of fossils which the theory of general evolution says should be in different layers.

4.     How could Noah get tens of thousands of species on the ark?

Well who says he did, we read earlier that Noah was told to “bring a pair of every kind of animal”

Now the ark had 3 floors and was almost two football pitches long. It’s been worked out that there was enough room for 125,000 sheep. today there are 18,000 species that would qualify for a trip on the ark. If we doubled that to allow for extinct species, we’d still only have 36,000 species. If we double that to take two of each kind, we get 72,000.  And the average size is a lot smaller than a sheep, so it all fits with room to spare. But, Noah didn’t take 2 of each species; he took need 2 of each kind.

5.     How did animals get from across sea to the ark?

There’s not a huge problem with this really, because the simple answer is likely as not that the animals didn’t need to cross the sea. Because both creation and evolutionary scientists agree that in the past the earth was one landmass. The dispute is how this division occurred. [1]The bible says it happened after the flood, the evolutionary textbooks say land has always moved around a bit.

So the gist of it is you don’t have to be a complete crank to accept that a whole world flood happened.

But I’m not here to get excited about geology or history or science, don’t get me wrong, I find it interesting and I love to get down and research and study and teach, and I believe with all my heart that God’s got something to say to us through this – but think about your life today… does getting your head around fossils and a floating zoo help you to deal with all of the stuff life throws at you?

Not really, does it?

So what is God saying to you today that will make a difference to you today?

Well how about this: God looked and he could see that Noah and his family were all alone amongst the most evil corrupt nastiest lot you could imagine, can you relate to that? Are you at the end of your tether, is life close to the bottom for you at times, or maybe you see others you love struggling, or things happening in the world that make you cry out “God why is this going on, why God why?”

God rescued Noah by way of a big floating farm – let me tell you today, that that was just a glimpse of God’s power, a few thousand years later at the right time He came to deliver a complete rescue package, a rescue that cost Him everything – have you come to the point you can see you need rescuing – Let me tell you that God is in the rescue business, He’s not offering a life boat, He’s offering you life, life as it’s meant to be with a lifetime guarantee like no other.

Have you got hold of that guarantee yet, it’s there for the taking, but I can’t tell you how long for… no one can…

But maybe you’re sitting here this morning thinking great, but this is old news to me, I know all of this, I’ve been there done that got the tee shirt.... If that’s you that’s brilliant, it’s great...

• But are you living like someone who has been rescued?
• I know God is talking to you each day – are you listening, are you talking to Him?
• If you were on trial for being a Christian – would there be the evidence to convict you, would you be caught praying with other people, will you be found with a lifestyle that’s any different to anyone else?
• Now I’ve got an inkling that when Noah was rescued it changed His life – I don’t think that as the flood receded he forgot – When God rescued Noah the effect was obvious, permanent and excitning – and that’s the message for this morning – God is in the life changing business, with an eternal guarantee, that if you let Him, He’ll turn your life around in the most amazing way.
• PRAYER

[1] Genesis 10:25a, "To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg (which means division), for in his days the earth was divided", Eber named his son after an event witnessed at the time of his son’s birth – the earth dividing. This event occurred on the fourth generation after the flood.