Building a boat

🛶 SERMON TITLE: “Build a Boat: Faith When It Doesn’t Make Sense”

🎶 Inspired by “Build a Boat” by Colton Dixon 📖 Genesis 5–10 🗝️ Theme: Radical obedience, enduring faith, and trusting God when the world doesn’t understand.

🔥 INTRO: THE WORLD IS EVIL — BUT GOD STILL SPEAKS

Let’s be honest—we live in a world that's gone off the rails. Genocide. War. Racism. Division. School shootings. Human trafficking. Suicide. Depression. From 9/11 to TikTok-fueled chaos, the headlines are enough to make you lose hope.

But we’re not the first generation to face darkness. In Genesis 6:5, we read:

“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.”

Sound familiar?

Yet in that chaos, God found a man. One man. A man who would build. A man who would trust without proof. A man who would walk with God in a world walking away from Him.

Imagine God scanning the earth… and seeing only shadows. A world full of violence, corruption, and sin. Yet amid the darkness, He sees one light. One man. One believer. One builder.

🎵 “I will build a boat in the sand where they say it never rains...”

⛵ POINT 1: Faith Obeys Before It Understands

📖 Genesis 6:14–22 – God gives Noah precise instructions to build the ark.

Key Idea: Faith isn’t based on understanding. It’s based on obedience.

Noah had never seen rain. Most scholars believe rain didn’t even exist yet (Genesis 2:6 speaks of mist watering the ground).

He wasn’t near a body of water.

He had no help, no manual, no confirmation. Just a voice. Just a whisper from heaven in a world of noise.

“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in obedience built an ark...” – Hebrews 11:7

ILLUSTRATION: Picture a man in the middle of dry desert land hammering planks together. Children laugh. Neighbors shake their heads. “Rain? He says water’s coming from the sky!” There had never been rain before. There was no sea. No clouds. Noah had no reason to believe—except for God’s voice.

APPLICATION: Sometimes God gives us instructions that make no sense. Start the ministry. (Me) I feel called to possibly start a podcast ministry where I give sermons on said podcast.) Write the book. Break off that relationship. Forgive that person. Trust Him with your future.

🎵 “Every word you say is gonna come true…”

Will you obey God when you don’t have all the answers?

📍 Preaching Moment: “Some of you are waiting for confirmation before you build—Noah just needed a command. What if your breakthrough is on the other side of obedience?”

🧍‍♂️ POINT 2: Faith Stands Alone in a Corrupt Culture

📖 Genesis 6:9 – “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.”

Key Idea: Real faith will often make you look foolish to the world.

ILLUSTRATION: Imagine being the only one in your neighborhood obeying God. Imagine a hundred years of mockery. Imagine your kids coming home saying, “Dad, everyone at school says you're crazy.” Yet Noah still built—every. single. day.

Noah was alone in his righteousness.

The world mocked him. Scholars suggest it took anywhere from 50–100 years to build the ark.

Every day he heard the whispers: “Crazy man.” “Boat builder in a desert.” “Rain? What rain?”

And still…he built.

🎵 “Even when the world can’t see, I will keep building the boat.”

APPLICATION:

Students: Will you stand for Christ in a classroom that doesn’t?

Adults: Will you stand for purity in a culture of compromise?

Preachers: Will you stand on truth when it’s unpopular?

📍 Preaching Moment: “The same people who mocked Noah for decades were banging on the door when the rain came.”

Faith may isolate you, but it will also protect you.

🌧️ POINT 3: Faith Prepares for a Storm You’ve Never Seen

📖 Genesis 7:5 – “And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.”

ILLUSTRATION: Visualize the skies still sunny... Birds chirping. Business as usual. But inside Noah’s yard, the sound of hammering. He wasn’t reacting—he was preparing. And when the rain finally came—he didn’t panic… he was ready.

Noah built for decades with no visible threat. But when the time came, he and his family were ready.

The animals came in.

The door shut.

The rain fell.

And only the prepared (Noah and his family) survived.

🎵 “When the flood and the water starts to rise… yeah, I’ll ride the storm 'cause I got You by my side.”

APPLICATION: You don’t wait until the storm to prepare—you build now. You don’t start praying when trouble hits—you pray now. You don’t open your Bible after the battle—you store it in your heart before it comes.

📍 Preaching Moment: “Don’t despise the building season. What looks like silence is actually God’s setup.”

🌈 POINT 4: Faith Trusts God to Remember You

📖 Genesis 8:1 – “But God remembered Noah…”

The storm lasted 40 days. But Noah was in the ark for over a year.

It got quiet. Still. Confusing.

But God had not forgotten. He was still writing Noah’s story.

🎵 “Even in my doubt, I will not stop…”

ILLUSTRATION: Picture Noah sitting in the ark. The storm has passed. But now, it’s just silence. No land. No birds. No movement. Just floating. Waiting. He wonders, “Has God forgotten me?” Then—one day—the dove returns with a fresh olive leaf.

APPLICATION: There are moments in the ark when it feels like nothing is happening. You obeyed. You built. And now…it’s just waiting. But delay is not denial. God remembers those who walk by faith.

📍 Preaching Moment: “If you’re floating in the middle of silence, take heart—God remembers you even when the rain stops and the sky is gray.”

✝️ CONCLUSION: WHAT IS YOUR BOAT?

What is God asking you to build?

What command are you resisting because it doesn’t make sense?

What if your obedience is what saves your family?

What if your faith today is the foundation of someone else’s freedom tomorrow?

🎵 “I'll sail it out into the waves, 'cause I know that You’ll lead me through the storm...”

FAITH BUILDS. EVEN WHEN IT HURTS. EVEN WHEN IT’S LONELY. EVEN WHEN IT’S UNSEEN.

👉 Will you build when it makes no sense?

🙏 ALTAR CALL / RESPONSE MOMENT:

3 Questions:

What has God asked you to build in this season?

What’s stopping you from obeying?

Will you take one step today—just one—to build by faith?

Invite people to the altar (or personal prayer) with these declarations:

“God, I will build even when I don’t see rain.”

“Lord, I choose obedience over understanding.”

“Father, help me stand when the world mocks.”

💬 OPTIONAL SPOKEN WORD (for end or transition):

"I’m building a boat with no sign of the sea, In a world that mocks faith and worships the screen. They laugh at my hammer, they scoff at the wood, But I trust in my Savior—He’s making it good. I’ve never seen rain, but I’ve heard His voice. I’m not building for applause—I’m building by choice. And when the storm comes, I’ll be ready to float, Not because I’m strong— But because I built the boat."