WEBVTT 00:00:01.360 --> 00:00:03.439 You're listening to audio from the VIA. 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:08.480 If you'd like information on how to get connected, tap the link to our website in the show notes. 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:15.919 Hi, my name is Sydney Thompson, and I have the privilege of serving here at VIA. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:18.239 And I'm going to be reading a passage for us today. 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:21.839 But before I do that, I'm just going to share a little bit of my testimony. 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:28.800 Before I met Jesus, I was lost and broken, and I lived in isolation. 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:31.039 I didn't have a lot of friends. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:34.799 But then I met Jesus and he changed my life. 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:39.679 And in my obedience to him, I now get to live in such a great community. 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:45.359 And I know that there's a purpose for my life, and I am so thankful for all that the Lord has done for me. 00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:56.799 Today I'm going to be reading out of Genesis 6, verses 5 through 9, and it'll be on the screen so you can follow along. 00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:07.120 And it says, The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:12.640 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:22.239 So the Lord said, I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created, and with them the animals, the birds, and the creatures that move along the ground. 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:23.920 For I regret that I have made them. 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:26.400 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:28.799 This is the account of Noah and his family. 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:34.239 Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:36.560 And this is the word of the Lord. 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:38.079 Thanks, be to God. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.439 Hey, can we give it up for Sidney Thompson? 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:44.159 Come on. 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:46.159 Hey, well, Vita, how are we doing? 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:47.359 We get it. 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:48.239 No, that's me. 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:49.840 Hey, Vita, how are we doing? 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:51.840 That's a little bit better. 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:58.000 Uh well, hey, we are starting our fall series that we have entitled Same God. 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:01.680 Uh, and I'm pumped uh to get to preach to you tonight. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:04.719 If you have not had the chance to meet before, my name is Chris. 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:07.439 I get to serve as a part of our team here. 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:15.280 Uh but what we're gonna be doing throughout this series is we're gonna look at some maybe familiar passages from the Old Testament. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:35.599 Uh maybe you learned them in Sunday school, or maybe you just heard the stories before, but we're gonna take another look at them and we're gonna see how these stories ultimately, one, point to Jesus, and then we're gonna look at some principles and applications that we can take away from the stories and apply to our life today. 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:44.159 But in honor of the fact that we are kind of pulling from some old Sunday school stories, I want to do a little old Sunday school thing. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:49.919 Some of you might know it, some of you might not, but we're gonna do a Bible drill to start out this fall. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:52.000 And so if you have your Bible, here's what I want you to do. 00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:55.840 Everybody in the room, if you have your Bible, I want you to hold it up in the air. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:59.120 I want you to hold it up high in the air, as high as you can. 00:02:59.199 --> 00:03:02.879 And everybody, all across the room, now pay attention, keep them up in the air. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:03.840 Pay attention. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:05.520 Here's what I want you to do. 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:10.479 If you are in a committed relationship, I want you to put your Bible down. 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:19.120 Now, the rest of you take a look around the room because these people love Jesus and they brought their Bible to video tonight. 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:26.719 And so tonight we are gonna look at the story of Noah's Ark. 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:31.199 And most of you, I think, are probably familiar with this story. 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:36.960 Um, if you've grown up in church, or if you've just been around, this is a pretty common story. 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:53.120 It may have been painted in your bedroom mural as a kid, or maybe you read it with your parents in the storybook adventure Bible, you know, and you would look at it and you're like, hey, mom, what is this story with all the animals smiling and the guy on the boat? 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:57.520 It's like, oh, that's the story where God wiped out all of the earth, all of creation. 00:03:57.680 --> 00:03:59.599 You're like, oh, cool, all right. 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:11.840 Well, anyway, we're gonna read from the actual Bible tonight, and we're gonna see how this story ultimately points us to Jesus, and we're gonna pull some principles from the life of Noah. 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:18.639 And so our passage begins with the reality of what Sidney just read to us. 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:35.040 Starting in verse 5, chapter 6, it says that the Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:36.480 Great start. 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:38.639 Welcome to Via, so nice to see you. 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:45.680 But if we are gonna understand this story, we need to know that this is how human beings are naturally bent. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:50.800 That word inclination, it just means a natural tendency. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:05:00.879 And what's being communicated here is that the natural tendency of our hearts as humans is only towards evil all the time. 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:04.160 And now, theologians would call this depravity. 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:06.639 That we are sinful. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:11.680 And sinful humans cannot be in the presence of a holy God. 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:22.639 And so the Lord looks down from heaven, he sees this evil tendency, and the Bible says that he, the Lord, regretted that he had made human beings on the earth. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:26.160 And his heart was deeply troubled. 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:37.920 Now, contrary to what you may have been led to believe about this story, God is not looking down on humans with the primary emotion of anger. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:43.680 He's not pissed off at the world, and so he says, screw it, I'm gonna flood the whole thing. 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:46.480 No, God is deeply troubled. 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:50.560 His heart is in pain. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:06:10.560 Because the people that he created in his image to know him and to be known by him, the ones that he created for a relationship with him, they're running in the opposite direction. 00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:26.399 And can I tell you that when you run away from God, the primary emotion that he feels towards you is not anger, it's heartbreak. 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:30.160 It's heartbroken. 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:36.160 Because he sees the life that you're living and he knows that it's not actually life. 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:44.079 That you're searching for these deep longings in your heart and all the wrong things. 00:06:45.519 --> 00:07:05.040 You you chase a hookup or a relationship because you want to feel loved and valued, you chase money and success to try to get some sense of significance and purpose, and you get stuck compromising your convictions and trying to please people because you want to belong. 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:12.879 The thing that you think is giving you life may be the very thing that is slowly taking it from you. 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:17.839 And can I tell you something else? 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:27.279 That conviction and uncomfortability in your sin is God's grace in your life. 00:07:28.959 --> 00:07:35.120 It is his way of showing you that what you're doing isn't ultimately going to satisfy you. 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:39.920 It's his way of drawing you back to himself. 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:41.439 But listen to me. 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:47.199 Sin will become really comfortable when you're not the only one doing it. 00:07:48.959 --> 00:08:00.720 You can often quench the Spirit of God in your life by finding comfort in surrounding yourself with people who are stuck in the same sinful tendencies that you are. 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:10.160 And you can convince yourself that something isn't a problem simply because the people around you also have the same problem. 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:18.480 But God wants nothing more than for you to enter into life with Him. 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:22.480 The problem of sin remains. 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:27.360 And sinfulness and holiness do not mix. 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:39.200 And so God looks at the earth and he says, I'm gonna wipe away from the face of the earth a human race that I've created, all the animals, for I regret that I have made them. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:47.120 He says, We're gonna start over. 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:52.080 But there's a glimmer of hope for humanity. 00:08:53.200 --> 00:09:00.720 Because in verse 8, the Bible says that Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:06.960 And that word favor is a word that we would often translate as grace. 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:14.320 And if you're gonna understand grace, then we need to understand justice and mercy. 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:18.480 Justice is getting what you deserve. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:22.879 Mercy is not getting what you deserve. 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:29.039 But grace is getting something better than you deserve. 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:34.799 The Lord looks at Noah and He shows him grace. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:39.039 He gives him something that he does not deserve. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:46.399 Because just like the rest of the people on the earth, Noah's heart was bent towards sin and evil. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:59.519 But there was something different about Noah, and verse 9 tells us it says that Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:06.159 The word righteous means that Noah was in right standing with God. 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:17.039 And anytime that someone is righteous in the eyes of God, it is because of their faith in him, not because of anything that they have done. 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:24.240 And so God looks at Noah with grace and he tells him to build an ark. 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:32.240 And if I can blow your mind for a minute, maybe ruin your childhood, an ark is not a boat. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:38.559 In fact, the only reason that we think of a boat when we think of an ark is because of this story. 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:47.120 But a boat has a mode to move and to steer to get you from one place to another, like a rudder or sails. 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:56.480 But an ark, on the other hand, is a container or a vessel of protection. 00:10:57.919 --> 00:11:11.759 It has no ability to steer, no ability to control, you simply enter in and you trust that you'll be protected from whatever is outside the ark. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:16.720 And so God tells Noah to build an ark. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:23.679 And then the Lord tells him, He says, I'm going to bring a flood on the earth to destroy all of life under heaven. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:29.120 Everything is going to perish, but I will establish my covenant with you. 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:33.039 And you will enter the ark. 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:36.879 God makes a promise to Noah. 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:38.799 That's what that word covenant means. 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:41.360 It means a promise and agreement. 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:46.960 And God establishes this promise with Noah, and it's a promise of salvation. 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:57.360 And Noah and his family enter the ark with all the animals, and they stay there through the flood for over a year. 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:03.120 But the Bible says that God remembered Noah. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:07.759 And he sent a wind over the earth to dry up the waters. 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:13.279 And as Noah and his family leave the boat, God makes another promise. 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:20.000 He says that he will never again pour out his wrath on a sinful, wicked world with a flood. 00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:23.759 He's never gonna flood and destroy the earth again. 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:27.039 That's what he says in chapter 9, verse 12. 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:34.480 It says, And God said, This is the sign of the covenant that I'm making between me and you and every living creature with you. 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:37.759 A covenant for all generations to come. 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:43.919 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:53.120 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth, and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all the living creatures of every kind. 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:58.480 Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:02.879 Do you see that word rainbow? 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:10.879 It's interesting because it's actually the Hebrew word that means war bow. 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:15.200 Like a bow that you would take into battle. 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:27.840 And what God is communicating here is that the sign of his covenant with the people of the earth to never destroy the earth again is that he will hang his war bow in the sky. 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:32.799 As if to say, I am putting up my weapon. 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:39.519 I am not going to use it on a sinful, wicked earth again. 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:54.320 But what's amazing is that if we look at the rainbow and we know that it's God's war bow, which way is it pointed? 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:01.039 It's pointed up towards heaven. 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:16.080 It's as if God is saying, the next time that I draw my bow to pour out my wrath on sin and evil in the world, it will not be pointed at the sinful people of the world. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:18.240 It will be pointed at me. 00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:26.960 And with that, our story begins to point to Jesus. 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:33.360 Because almost 2,000 years later, the world didn't look much different. 00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:45.039 Sin, death, and destruction, they're running rampant, but this time instead of God pouring out his righteous wrath on a depraved humanity and earth, he poured it out on his son. 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:59.600 Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who stepped into our sinfulness, into our brokenness to offer us a different kind of ark. 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:07.120 The ark of salvation through faith and trust in him for the forgiveness of sins. 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:14.320 When we look at the ark, we see a foreshadowing of Jesus. 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:19.440 Because you and I, we we are sinful, broken people. 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:24.480 We do not deserve to have a relationship with the holy God of the universe. 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:27.440 We deserve to drown in a flood. 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:33.440 But God looked at us the same way that he looked at Noah. 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:36.320 And he showed us grace. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:41.759 And where justice should have been poured out on us. 00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:44.080 He poured it out on his son. 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:49.679 And we got something far better than we deserved. 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:52.720 Jesus took our place. 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:55.919 He took all of our sin, past, present, and future. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:03.600 And he went to the cross and he died the death that we deserve so that we could be restored in our relationship with God. 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:10.320 The cross is where God's justice and mercy meet. 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:24.399 And where the flood reveals just how seriously God takes sin, the cross reveals just how seriously he loves sinners. 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:40.799 You can rest in the finished work of Jesus on your behalf. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:42.399 This is the gospel. 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:46.879 Paul would put it this way in 2 Corinthians 5. 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:55.919 He said, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 00:16:56.080 --> 00:17:06.240 And so just like Noah, when God looks at you, he doesn't see the sinfulness of the world, he sees the righteousness of Christ. 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:08.880 It's been given to you. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:15.119 That is how our story tonight points us to Jesus. 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:22.640 And so what I want to do is I want to switch gears for a minute, because you and I both know that I can't just preach one sermon on a Thursday night. 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:26.960 And so what I want to do is I want to look at the character of Noah. 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:33.759 Because I believe a lot of you in this room, you are here because you have placed your faith and trust in Jesus. 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:38.480 And if you have not done that yet, then we're going to give you the opportunity to do that. 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:43.920 We're happy to answer some questions and walk alongside you as you navigate that. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:58.640 But for those of you in the room who do know Jesus, if we're honest, I think that you find yourself in a very similar position to the one that Noah found himself in. 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:06.880 You're trying to follow the Lord in a world that's running in the opposite direction. 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:12.240 I think you know what this feels like. 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:29.359 So many of you, you find yourselves trying to navigate following Jesus in spaces where everyone else is running away from him, like on your sports team in a fraternity or a sorority in a specific major or career path or in a particular workplace. 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:37.440 And it can be hard not to fall into the culture of the crowd that you find yourselves around. 00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:42.960 Noah found himself in a very similar situation. 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:46.240 He felt alone. 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:49.440 But can I tell you something? 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:51.680 This is not where we're going tonight. 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:54.079 But just can I tell you that you are not alone? 00:18:54.559 --> 00:19:02.640 Can I tell you that God, in a world that seems to be running away from him, he always preserves a remnant of people that are still following him? 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:17.119 And so if you feel like you're the only one trying to follow Jesus in this world in your season of life, you can look around the room and you can see 400 of your closest Jesus following friends who are saying, I'm here to try to do that too. 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:21.759 That one was free. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:29.920 But what I want to do is I want to look at three things that set Noah apart from the world around him. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:35.519 How he was able to follow the Lord in a culture that wanted nothing to do with God. 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:38.559 And these are straight from our story tonight. 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:48.559 That Noah walked with God, that he believed God's word and lived in obedience to it, and he experienced the fruit of a life with God. 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:56.400 And so if you want to follow the Lord among a culture that's running away from them, this is what it looks like. 00:19:57.279 --> 00:20:05.200 But what I want to do is I want to kind of categorize these things under a banner definition of what it means to have faith. 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:11.920 Faith, at its core, is relational trust. 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:20.880 When we talk about what it means to follow Jesus, to place your faith in him, this is the core of what we're talking about. 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:25.680 A trust that is built on a relationship. 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:32.559 This is what Jesus died for us to have a relationship with God, that we would know him. 00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:35.599 This is what Jesus said in John 17. 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:38.319 He says, Now this is eternal life. 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:44.960 That they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:53.279 Noah was able to trust God when he told him to build an ark because he knew God. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:56.160 He had been walking with him. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:20:59.920 I want you to see it again in chapter 6, verse 9. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:06.640 It says, Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:12.880 This is the foundation of our trust, our faith. 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:17.440 It is formed by walking with God. 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:22.640 In the Gospel of John, Jesus would call this abiding. 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:28.319 Remaining in relationship with Him, staying connected with Him. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:40.160 And really practically, this means things like spending time in prayer, spending time reading and studying God's word, spending time with God's people to be stirred up in your faith. 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:45.200 And as you do these things, God will begin to speak to you. 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:49.920 But listen to me. 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:57.839 You cannot expect intimacy with God when you're giving him the leftovers of your time. 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:09.519 Some of you, you wake him up, and the first voice that you hear is that on your TikTok or Instagram reels. 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:20.240 You pick up your phone first thing in the morning, you scroll through other people's lives and opinions, and then you wonder why it's difficult to hear the voice of God. 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:31.039 And if your phone gets the first hour of your day while God gets the leftovers, then don't be surprised when the world gets louder than his voice. 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:42.880 Now, I'm not telling you to throw your phone in the river, but I am asking you, who's discipling you more? 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:45.680 Is it Jesus? 00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:48.160 Or is it your algorithm? 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:54.000 We've got to walk faithfully with God. 00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:57.039 You've got to choose him. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:03.119 Spend time with him, and when you do, he will speak to you. 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:13.920 When he does, the only right response is to believe what he's saying and to live it out in obedience. 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:17.279 It's exactly what Noah did. 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:24.319 We see it two times in this story that God spoke to Noah, and then Noah responds in obedience. 00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:28.079 And this is often the hardest part about following Jesus. 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:40.400 It is one thing to say that you believe God's word, that you agree with what it says, but it is another thing to change your life to live in accordance to it. 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:54.000 Believing God's word and living in obedience means changing your life even when you don't want to. 00:23:55.440 --> 00:23:57.759 Especially when you don't want to. 00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:04.400 True belief in God's word will always lead to action. 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:08.559 Belief leads way to behavior. 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:16.319 This is why the apostle James says, don't merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves, but do what it says. 00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:27.920 You can know what God says, and you can still live a life of disobedience, and then you wonder why your life is in shambles and you have no joy, no peace. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:30.559 You can't discern your next steps. 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:35.599 But obedience to God's word. 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:49.519 Choosing the hard ride over the easy wrong, choosing to follow Jesus when everyone else around you is running away from him, it will always lead to you experiencing the fruit of following Jesus in your life. 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:55.200 Obedience will always, always lead to blessing. 00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:09.440 Now, it may not look how you want it to, and it may not come when you want it to, but obedience will always lead to blessing. 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:16.720 Most often, that blessing is deeper intimacy and dependence, trust in him. 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:22.400 And now I know that this is hard. 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:30.319 Because I know that some of you you wrestle with kind of how to navigate a relationship that you know isn't honoring God. 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:36.880 How to stay sexually pure in a culture that struggles with sex and self-control. 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:45.039 How to say no to something when you feel like your friendships and social status hangs in the balance. 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:50.960 But just because obedience is difficult does not mean that it is not worth it. 00:25:52.000 --> 00:26:00.079 And you cannot spend your entire life trying to make everyone else comfortable with your obedience. 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:08.079 Obedience to God will often look foolish to the ones who don't know him. 00:26:10.720 --> 00:26:13.680 But this is what it means to have faith. 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:23.839 It is trusting the character of God enough to obey him, even when everyone around you thinks that you're crazy. 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:30.559 And obedience to God will always lead to blessing in your life. 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:37.359 I want to close by sharing a little bit about my story. 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:42.640 When I was in college, I ran away from the Lord. 00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:53.920 I had known him in my teenage years, but when I got to college, I started chasing this football career, started chasing a girl, what I thought that abundant life was going to look like. 00:26:56.480 --> 00:27:05.839 Made some dumb decisions, and with the help of the Lord, I found myself at a spiritual and emotional rock bottom. 00:27:07.839 --> 00:27:16.799 But it was actually the grace of God that led me there because he was going to use that moment to change my life. 00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:27.759 I was anxious, I was tired, I was scrambling for some sense of identity and purpose, and I was stuck in the worst possible place. 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:32.079 I knew all the things about God without actually knowing him. 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:41.039 I was trying to say that I followed Jesus while my life looked nothing like a Jesus follower. 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:46.799 And that is the worst place to live your life. 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:54.720 Because you will know all about the love of Jesus without ever experiencing it. 00:27:55.680 --> 00:28:04.400 You'll know all about the joy and the peace and the life found in him, but you will still feel broken and empty and dead inside. 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:13.519 And I woke up one morning and I literally felt disgusting. 00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:17.680 I can feel what I felt like in that moment. 00:28:19.200 --> 00:28:25.039 And by the power and the conviction of the Holy Spirit, I felt the weight of my sin. 00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:34.160 I was brokenhearted over who I was, who I'd become, and what I had done. 00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:42.319 And like the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15, I came to my senses. 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:47.440 And I said, I've got to go back to my father's house. 00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:54.960 And so in that moment, I prayed one of the simplest, most honest prayers that I have ever prayed. 00:28:55.039 --> 00:28:57.200 I said, God, I am done with this. 00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:00.640 I don't want anything to do with this. 00:29:00.799 --> 00:29:04.079 I don't want anything to do with the life that I have been chasing. 00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:06.079 I'm tired of doing things my way. 00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:07.119 I want to follow you. 00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:11.279 I want to know you, but you have got to show me what that looks like. 00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:14.559 Because I've got no idea. 00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:19.519 I said, Bring me back. 00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:28.319 And in that moment, I felt the Lord give me a word. 00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:33.119 It's one of the few times in my life that something like that has happened. 00:29:34.559 --> 00:29:37.599 That word was obedience. 00:29:39.359 --> 00:29:47.359 God's love came rushing into my heart, and I was beginning to develop this love for Him. 00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:53.920 And these words from Jesus, I'm sorry, from John in 1 John. 00:29:56.319 --> 00:29:58.319 It said, sorry, this is from Jesus. 00:29:58.480 --> 00:30:02.400 If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:07.920 That was what I wanted to characterize my life. 00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:10.400 Obedience. 00:30:12.160 --> 00:30:15.440 And so I went on Amazon and I bought a new Bible. 00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:19.920 Wasn't anything wrong with the old one, but you know you got to get a fresh start sometimes. 00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:23.359 I started reading God's word. 00:30:25.279 --> 00:30:28.480 And as I read, I made a decision. 00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:33.519 That whatever God said to do, I was going to do. 00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:36.880 And you know what happened? 00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:39.119 Everything changed. 00:30:41.599 --> 00:30:46.559 Not because my circumstances immediately became perfect. 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:49.599 Not because I lived it out perfectly. 00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:53.279 One of the things we didn't hit about Noah, we just talked about how great Noah was. 00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:55.039 You know what happens right after the flood? 00:30:55.200 --> 00:30:57.599 He ends up drunk in a tent naked. 00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:00.480 That's in the Bible. 00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:03.759 Not perfectly. 00:31:04.559 --> 00:31:06.880 But I started walking with God. 00:31:08.640 --> 00:31:10.400 I started trusting him. 00:31:11.680 --> 00:31:13.519 I began to obey him. 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:20.319 And I experienced what I had spent so long looking for in everything else. 00:31:23.200 --> 00:31:26.319 I experienced the love of Jesus take over my heart. 00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:31.599 A peace that surpasses my understanding. 00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:37.440 A deep-rooted joy that goes beyond my circumstances. 00:31:39.440 --> 00:31:42.960 God convicted me of sin, but he did not leave me there. 00:31:43.119 --> 00:31:47.519 He invited me into life to know him. 00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:49.200 To know his son. 00:31:50.880 --> 00:31:58.720 And ever since that day, looking back, one word has characterized my life. 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:01.279 Redemption. 00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:09.680 Because the things that I thought were gonna give me life were actually killing me. 00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:16.880 And the things that I thought that I needed to hold on to, God was asking me to surrender. 00:32:18.400 --> 00:32:23.119 And in their place, he gave me gifts of his grace. 00:32:26.400 --> 00:32:28.559 And so I don't know where you're at. 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:33.599 I don't know what it is that God is asking you to do. 00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:41.839 Maybe you've been asking God for clarity when he's already given you a command. 00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:47.680 Maybe you're praying, God, show me your will. 00:32:49.200 --> 00:32:52.079 While God is saying, I've already told you what to do. 00:32:55.200 --> 00:32:59.519 Maybe there's a sin that you need to confess, a relationship that needs to end. 00:32:59.680 --> 00:33:04.319 Maybe you need to stop compromising because you're afraid of what people are going to think. 00:33:06.799 --> 00:33:10.400 Maybe there's somebody in the room that you need to offer forgiveness to. 00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:21.039 But maybe for a lot of you, you need to stop running from God. 00:33:24.559 --> 00:33:25.759 Maybe you need to come home. 00:33:29.279 --> 00:33:34.720 You don't have to understand everything that God is doing to obey the thing that He's already told you to do. 00:33:46.720 --> 00:33:49.599 Because faith is relational trust. 00:33:51.440 --> 00:33:54.640 And it flourishes in dependence. 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:06.319 Enough to obey him when everybody else around them said he was crazy. 00:34:07.920 --> 00:34:09.920 And you can trust him too. 00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:14.320 You may not know where he's leading. 00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:17.119 You may not understand what it is that he's doing. 00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:25.920 You may feel like you're the only one trying to follow Jesus, but you are never foolish for trusting a God who has proven himself faithful. 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:32.639 And the same God who was faithful to Noah is faithful to you. 00:34:34.159 --> 00:34:45.360 The same one who offered up an ark of salvation to Noah out of grace has offered up a way of salvation through Jesus for you. 00:34:47.920 --> 00:34:54.960 And the same God who called Noah to walk with him is calling you to walk with him. 00:34:57.280 --> 00:34:59.519 And so let me pray that you would. 00:35:04.320 --> 00:35:08.960 God, I just bless these men and women in the name of your son Jesus. 00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:11.360 God, thank you for your word. 00:35:15.119 --> 00:35:18.880 God, I thank you that it pierces our heart and it leads us to repentance. 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:25.440 God, all that the gospel requires is repentance and faith. 00:35:29.840 --> 00:35:35.119 God, would your Holy Spirit begin to produce obedience in our hearts tonight? 00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:38.079 God, we love you. 00:35:38.239 --> 00:35:39.199 We praise you. 00:35:39.840 --> 00:35:42.159 We give you all glory and honor. 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:49.840 We never want to get over what it is that you have done for us through the giving of your son Jesus. 00:35:50.639 --> 00:35:52.880 It's in his name that we pray. 00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:54.639 Amen.