I want what God wants 2.18.24

I Want What God Wants Where Could This Lead? February 18, 2024 Next Sunday...Dr. Randall Parris, our missionary to Africa will be with us for the weekend. He will be training our staff and elders on Saturday and speak for us in service on Sunday. We will be taking an offering for missions next Sunday for Africa. You may recall that our desire is to be active on five continents by 2025. Dr. Parris is a gifted leader and you will be blessed by his ministry. PRAYER **Place your right hand over your heart-"I Want What God Wants!" For the past two weeks we have looked at the implications of obedience and how it transforms our relationship to God. * In week 1 we accepted that God always wants what is best for us even when it doesn't feel like it. * In week 2, we accepted that obedience is not easy and never voluntary even when God wants seems impossible to us. Don't be caught off-guard that when you decide to do things God's way and trust that what He wants is ALWAYS best for us-then the enemy fights us with deceptive words (like he did Eve) and tries to convince us that God is keeping us from something we might really like to do. Today I finish this series by looking at a story that sounds so bizarre it may strike you as impossible--but it really happened. (Genesis 6:5-22) 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. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. 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. But Noah found favor with the Lord....(v.9) Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God...(v.14) Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 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. Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat-you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 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. 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. And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals. So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him. Introduction: It's hard to put your trust in something you've never seen or done before. Shelley likes to try exotic foods, sauces, etc. I tend to order the same thing on the menu every time. Shelley's always trying to get me to eat something different. I'll be almost asleep and she's put her phone screen in my face and say "would you eat this?" Again, I say it's hard to put your faith and trust in something you've never seen or done before. * Noah had never seen rain before. * Noah had never needed or built a boat in his life. * Noah had no experience with surviving a flood. It was all faith. The writer of Hebrews begins chapter 11 with these words... (v.1)...Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. (then he says)...(v. 7) It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith. Noah Put His Faith Into Something He Could Not Prove * Noah's faith was born out of his trust in what God had promised. * I Want What God Wants only works if you truly believe what God says is true-that He keeps His promises-and what He wants is what is best for you! * He did not build the ark because he was afraid-he built the ark because to believed what God said. Noah went on obeying under daily scorn. The men of that generation mocked him. It comes down to who you trust most? * The world thinks the Christian faith is merely fabricated fable-so did the people who watched Noah build a boat * The world lives as if God's Word does not matter-so did the world who discounted that Noah was not working by his own efforts but by the command of the Lord (I'll wait because God says) * The world assumes God's people are misguided-so did the world of Noah's day Noah Refused To Let His Faith Be Defined By The World In Which He Lived (Genesis 6:5) 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. * In a world that was completely without righteousness or holiness, Noah was a man whose faith was inconsistent with the world in which he lived. * It's influences and pressures to conform did not shake his confidence or trust in God. * He was willing, if necessary, to stand alone. * You and I now live in a post-Christian world. o "A post-Christian society is historically based in Christian ideas and follows simplified Christian values, but rejects the authority of Christianity and does not consider it the basis of either its ethics or its culture." * "The change in society is not necessarily about identification, remarkably a large proportion of society still identify themselves with the term Christian. * Labels do not replace reality, and many self-identified "Christians" in a post-Christian society lack basic knowledge of biblical faith. * As many as 29% of American identify as "non-religious" and contribute to this post-Christian America. We are missionaries to a world who increasingly no longer deeply hold to a conviction that God exists and that His Word is true. Gallup surveys indicate only 20% of American believe the Bible is absolutely true. Some in the church no longer believe God's Word is true because if they did-they would live by its truth! We said last week-you have to choose- (Matthew 7:21-23) Not everyone who calls out to me, 'Lord! Lord!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, 'Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.' 23 But I will reply, 'I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God's laws.' Our faith cannot be compartmentalized. (2 Timothy 3:1-5) You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly... Noah Built The Ark To Protect (Save) His Family (Hebrews 11:7) It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. This is where the rubber meets the road for me. * What we truly believe is what we are teaching our children. If I really wanted to know what your church stood for, I would not ask your elders or seniors, I'd spend time listening to your children because they reflect what you truly believe about God. Lamar Vest, The Church and It's Youth o It is the things we believe that we are passing to our children. * Noah's obedience was a generational decision that he would not allow his own children to be destroyed in the judgment of God -so he built an ark. * What if had not built the ark?-his family would have been destroyed because God said it would happen * Will we save only ourselves or will we save the next generation for which the enemy is already at work...? The question is generational and it's missional. * As we sit here today, we have the chance to save a generation from destruction. o We started our learning center because we are surrounded by a generation that does not know God. o One day perhaps we can start a Christian school so that boys and girls can learn to read and write in an environment where they are not being indoctrinated to change their gender or conform to the ideology of those who don't know God. * The enemy decided awhile back that he could not get our seniors to buy into the need to move away from God-so they simply went after our children and they've done much to reshape the way they think about God, the way they think about God's Word... Destruction is coming... Conclusion: We won't be able to save every young adult, every high schooler or every tweenager in the world... We don't have that reach But we can be responsible for helping save the ones who sit among us. * Every young adult (18-30) would you stand? * Every high school student * Every tween (grade 6-8) * Every child (5th grade down to infant) A last day revival (according to Joel 2) implies our sons and daughters will prophesy...God let that happen today! We don't intend to lose another generation. In fact, we are calling those lost generations back to Jesus today. God, I'm a sinner I'm sorry for my sins I believe Jesus died for my sins I believe Jesus will forgive my sins I choose Jesus