What's Next

Background to passage: Creation through the tower of Babel just got worse to the point where God was going to destroy the earth, and because of grace, He chose Noah and his family to restart the human population.

Genesis 6:13–14 ESV

13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.

Opening illustration: Mr. Jim’s vision of corn that is 10’ tall, but we don’t have a vision statement of the 10 Foot Tall Corny Garden. There is a mission: food on the table and in the freezer, and if there’s enough left over I’m gonna fly you all down to dedicate it. We have a strategy, and it is working, but more work to do.

1) break ground, my neighbor Bo.

2) Jim buying a tiller, poles, fencing, fertilizer, miracle grow, bone meal and seeds; till and fertilize after soil testing.

3) laying out poles and building a fence.

4) discussing a dozen times about when to put things, how many rows to put out, which way the rows go, and changing our mind over and over.

5) gathering all the twine, paint sticks, and tools.

6) laying out rows every 30” as per Mr. Jim.

6) pulling lines, raking, digging, planting, fertilizing some more, covering.

7) Setting up sprinklers and watering.

8) all the while keeping Mr. Louis out of the garden. Now, we have little baby plants!

And much more weeding, tilling, more tilling, more weeding, harvesting, eating, freezing, canning

Main thought: the next steps, or first steps, in achieving our vision are easy to say, but not as simple to do.

1) God Speaks to Noah (v. 6:13, 7:1, 8:15, 9:1, 8)

Genesis 6:13 ESV

13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Genesis 7:1 ESV

1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.

Genesis 8:15–16 ESV

15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.

Genesis 9:1 ESV

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Genesis 9:8 ESV

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him,

1) God Speaks to Noah (v. 6:13, 7:1, 8:15, 9:1, 8)

Explanation: the point is simple - God speaks. God was about to do something huge in the world, something huge in entire story of God, and he spoke to Noah about what he was to do. It seems like the conversation was casual, relational, but very specific. Therefore, Noah had to be listening. Again, sound pretty simple. We are told that found grace in God’s eyes. We know that he was righteous. We know that he “walked” with God. We aren’t told about Noah’s prayer life. We aren’t told about much about his spiritual practices with God. We do know that he heard God.

Acts 16:6–10 ESV

6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Illustration: walking intimately with a spouse, friend, or family member, listening to Erika’s dream of having new floors.

Application: The Refocus Team, now the Sharing HOPE Team, has been praying and listening to God for months. This is the desire of our heart. We want to know as a church what God wants from us here and now. The process does not end because we have put forth a vision and a plan. In fact, I might say that the real work is just beginning. We must hear from God.

We have an active prayer ministry. We have a text/email distribution list for efficiency. We have team that has been praying for this particular process. We have a Tuesday night prayer gathering each week at 5:30. We have the Bless Every Home ministry where each of us pray for our neighbors (44 of us, over 22,000 prayers prayed to date). We have individuals who call each other weekly and pray. But the question is: are we hearing from God. As the church at Western Heights, not the building, but the people, are we listening together. Unity is so important right now, and if we are all actively listening, we will be unified.

In our own personal lives, are we hearing from God? Are you listening? Do you expect him to speak? The Spirit lives inside of you and he has the mind of Christ. We pray but we forget to listen. He is the vine we are the branches and when we abide in the word, he will abide in us. We are commanded to walk in the Spirit, be filled with the Spirit, not grieve or quench the Spirit. God wants us to walk with Him as Noah did, as Enoch did, as Abraham did, as Moses did, as Jesus did. We are to sacrifice, focus, and maintain a life of intimacy with the Father.

2) Noah Believes and Acts (v. 6:22, 7:5, 8:18)

Genesis 6:22 ESV

22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

Genesis 7:5 ESV

5 And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

Genesis 8:18 ESV

18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.

2) Noah Believes and Acts (v. 6:22, 7:5, 8:18)

Explanation: the theme here is pretty straight-forward, trust and obey. When God spoke, Noah did what God said. Best I can tell, it took Noah about 75 years to build a giant boat that was 450 ft long and 75 ft wide. Can you imagine the ridicule he would have endured? Do you think he ever wondered if He understood God correctly? How long was it done before the rain? His faith persisted and after 75 years of swinging a hammer, God says get in the boat. Rain hadn’t started, fountains hadn’t started flowing, but God said get in the boat. Family tension?

Argumentation:

Illustration:

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word What a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will, He abides with us still And with all who will trust and obey

Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet Or we'll walk by His side in the way What He says we will do, where He sends we will go Never fear, only trust and obey

Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey

Application: For us, for Western Heights, our next steps are to listen for to the impressions of the Holy Spirit within us. We are to discern what he is saying as a body. The process has already started, but we must continue. Once we have it, our next steps are to obey. We have to come to the Spirit with open hands. This is Christ’s church and we are supposed to faithfully carry out what He wants from us. Could be hard, could be lots of work or money, could be unusual, could be that some people can’t go with where Christ is leading. But we must be willing and obedient.

A conversation with someone this week about all this, and I explained how our new vision and strategy would require, and we are asking for a higher level of commitment, how everyone would have to step it up. How the ball would be in their court and the responsibility on their shoulders to bear the load as a body. Would they take that on. For years pastors and leaders have been to ask, beg, plead, and coddle people into working, but we expect you to step up.

We must, without question, obey what the Lord asks us to do. We have to make that decision now, before we are asked, so that we are ready.

3) First Steps

Unification - this means understanding and embracing the vision and discipleship strategy together and with enthusiasm. We have to understand more than Sharing HOPE with All People and the HOPE strategy, but not less. Members of the Sharing HOPE team will be meeting with most, if not all of you in some way to explain more in depth the meaning, focus, results, and answer questions you may have. We will be lining up meetings with leadership, classes, bible study groups, ministry teams, in some of your homes.

Next Steps table - you may have noticed that we moved the Next Steps table into the foyer. Soon it will have people who are able to help others discern what the next step in their walk with Christ within our church. It may be church membership or baptism. It could be helping you find a bible study group that would be the most help for you (we will have all the groups, times, teachers, and meeting places) or some suggestions on how to further your relationships with others outside of Sunday mornings. Maybe it’s who to speak with about a ministry that is right for you or determining your spiritual gifts that finding that ministry. Maybe it’s when the next evangelism training is, a mission trip, or how to help others in their next steps.

Small changes all around - changes in the Exploring Western Heights class to accomplish strategy. As many of you know, we go through the gospel first thing, now we will go over the 3 Circles training to accomplish both clarity of the gospel/salvation AND a tool for others to share their faith. Also, we will have a full section on the Vision of Sharing HOPE and Discipleship strategy and the expectation that we have to make disciples. A streamlined ministry guide and on-ramp into ministry placement.

Already - social media updates, tags, and pictures supporting #SharingHOPE. Communication changes in Sharing HOPE. Slight logo alteration. New website page explaining Sharing Hope.

Closing illustration: taking VBS outside the walls - sitting watching a school bus unload with at least a dozen elementary age kids. Mentioned it to Cathi as something that we might do in the summer of 2026 if God leads. The next day she comes back and says the CMT feels like God is leading them to do it this year.

Recap