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Hearing the
Message Pastor Gene
Friberg Introduction: I have just a short message today, which reminds me of the cowboy story: One Sunday a cowboy went to church. When he entered, he saw that he and the preacher were the only ones present. The preacher asked the cowboy if he wanted him to go ahead and preach. The cowboy said, "I'm not too smart, but if I went to feed my cattle and only one showed up, I'd feed him." So the minister began his sermon. One hour passed, then two hours, then two-and-a-half hours. The preacher finally finished and came down to ask the cowboy how he had liked the sermon. The cowboy answered slowly, "Well, I'm not very smart, but if I went to feed my cattle and only one showed up, I sure wouldn't feed him ALL the hay." Genesis study – Noah. What we’ve learned already: 1. The Grace of God made Noah a godly man. 2. From the story of Noah’s drunkenness we saw what’s needed to maintain a healthy spiritual life. 3. Today – Hearing Noah’s Message. Goal: To call the spiritually dull to wake up. To give clarity to those confused about the times we live in. God is calling people to repent. I. His Audience. Genesis 6:5, 12; 2 Peter 3:3-7 A. Wickedness. A woman wrote: Early one morning, my husband, who works in a funeral home, woke me, complaining of severe abdominal pains. We rushed to the emergency room, where tests were performed to determine the source of the pain. My husband decided not to have me call in sick for him until we new what was wrong. When the results came back, the nurse informed us that, true to our suspicions, he was suffering from a kidney stone. I turned to my husband and asked, "Would you like me to call the funeral home now?" With a scornful look, the nurse turned to me and snapped, "Honey, he's not that sick!" Noah’s audience was sick with wickedness. Are there any wicked in the world today, or do you believe and say, “Honey, it’s not that bad? Just read the front page last couple newspapers! B. Scoffers. Are there any scoffers today? *Ha ha, I suppose you believe that fairy tale about Noah and the floating zoo? Matthew 5:10-12 Noah was scoffed at; do you think it will be any different for you if you are obedient to God? II. His Message. 2 Peter 2:4-5 What is a preacher of righteousness? One thing about Noah is that he believed in absolutes. *Some people
have no personal convictions - The minister was shaking everyone's hand
while they were leaving the church. An elderly man shook his hand and said,
"Reverend, that was the worst sermon I've ever listened to. It was
terrible." As the minister stood there dumbfounded, the old man's wife
stepped in, trying to help. 1. People are absolutely sinning against God. 2. God was absolutely angry with them. 3. There was absolutely going to be a flood coming. 4. You absolutely need to repent of your sins. 5. To escape the coming judgement, you absolutely need to enter the ark. Do you believe in any absolutes? What are they? Could they be similar to Noah’s? III. His Results. Do you know what a pragmatist is? Most Americans are pragmatic about life decisions. We want to be practical; does this thing have dependable results? What were Noah’s results? Hebrews 11:7; four results. 1. Prepared an ark. It may have taken 100 years, but he accomplished his goal! 2. Saved his household. May not seem like much when you consider the entire rest of humanity perished, but just ask any parent in this room, especially the parents of wayward children, what is the most important prayer request they have? Would they do anything to see their children saved? 3. Condemned the world. Noah’s godly obedience was in direct contrast with their ungodly disobedience. Did you know that by living godly, your old friends get under conviction? Just the fact that you repented of your sins tell them they must too. 4. Became an heir. There’s much in the Bible about physical prosperity, God has that for many people. But that’s not the kind of heir Noah was, one with a financial inheritance. He was an heir of righteousness, right standing w/God, and you can be too. Your sins can be washed away by God’s forgiving power through the blood of Jesus. If you want Noah’s results too, you need to tell God in prayer that you believe the message of Jesus dying for your sins and ask God to forgive you. Conclusion: Deer hunting analogy. I’ve only been deer hunting for 5 of past 6 years. Now before any here are upset about it, I have done some research. According to the Associated Press – Each year there are more than 1.5 million traffic accidents involving collisions with deer, that puts the economic damage at $1.1 billion. Adam Ashton— Nov. 7, 2003 http://espn.go.com/outdoors/conservation/s/c_fea_deer_car_damage_wire.html And according to the report on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site about 200 people die in accidents involving either hitting an animal or swerving to avoid one. An additional 26,647 people were injured in accidents involving encounters with animals, predominantly deer, (year 2000). http://www.thedailystar.com/news/stories/2004/11/06/deer.html So I pray to get one that may be hit by a car, that’s a good thing don’t you think? I’ve bagged 3 deer in the 5 years that I have hunted. That’s not much to brag about but I’ve had to learn a lot about how to be a hunter. Things like the 5 S’s to a successful hunt. One thing I have been suspect about is all the sales gimmicks in the hunting section. One can find buck grunts, doe and fawn bleats, doe estrus and buck scent, artificial antlers to rattle, etc... I don’t believe they work, except to hunt hunters into spending more money. I dropped off my deer this year at the butchers. As I was going back to my car, a pickup backed in a dropped of a deer too. We exchange information. I was hunting north of Harris, he and his party - south of North Branch. This is the sixth day of a nine day hunt, I had my one deer, and they already had 12! So I asked him, “Do you use anything?” “Oh yeah,” he says, “I use buck grunts, doe bleats, that fawn call in a can, estrus scent, rattle horns, we use them all.” Well, he made a believer out of me! The next time I’m in the tree, I’m trying all the stuff I can. I must not be doing it right, nothing came running out for me to shoot! Matthew 25:36-39 Just like that hunter made a believer out of me, can Noah make a believer out of you? Maybe you say “I’ll just wait till I’m older, then I will serve the Lord”. Noah’s crowd ran out of time before they got old, Jesus may return before you get old, then what’ll you do? Or else one may say, “I’ll wait till earth gets really bad, then I’ll serve the Lord.” But in the days of Noah, they kept eating, drinking; even though it was bad in God’s sight - in the people’s sight, life was normal. In the frozen foods department of our local grocery store, I noticed a man shopping with his son. As I walked by, he checked something off his list, and I heard him whisper conspiratorially to the child, "You know, if we really mess this up, we'll never have to do it again." Noah had really one message. Will you listen to it today? There’s no time to wait – and if you “mess it up”, you won’t have a second chance! REPENT, turn away from your sins today, and turn to the Lord for mercy. |