Earth Reset pt 2: A Fresh Start
Notes
Transcript
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Intro:
Intro:
AG:
TS: Last week we examined God’s reset to planet Earth.
RS:
Man’s wickedness was so great, that God described it as “every intentions of his heart was only evil continuously”.
To deal with it, He flood the Earth in judgment.
Noah and his wife, and his 3 sons and their wives were all that survived of humanity
In the ark, they also carried pairs of the land animals (1 pair of unclean and 7 pairs of clean)
Finally (after a year), the time came for Noah to leave the ark.
finally (after a year), the time came for Noah to leave the ark. What a time of new beginnings. As he and his family exited the ark so many things would change. It was a new year (vs. 13)! They would start their life anew. Noah and his family had received a second chance.
A radically changed Earth was getting a fresh start.
1 family had been found righteous and preserved.
Sadly, they brought sin with them.
Let’s examine this man Noah and see how he approached the fresh start.
But finally (after a year), the time came for Noah to leave the ark. What a time of new beginnings. As he and his family exited the ark so many things would change. It was a new year (vs. 13)! They would start their life anew. Noah and his family had received a second chance.
3. This is so applicable to us at this time of the year. Last year (2015) is over. Today, it is 2016. Some of you may be sad to see 2015 go into the books. For some of you, you are glad because it was not that great.
From the text, we will gain some biblical and practical insight into how to make a new start. Every person can make a fresh start!
• Maybe there were some deep valleys to pass through, maybe you feel like you failed in many areas, maybe it was filled with disappointment or frustration.
4. Just like Noah, God in His grace has given you a new year. It is a new beginning, a fresh opportunity, a brand-new start with a new year. How do you successfully make a new start? Some of you are going through this right now.
• Examples: a recent divorce – the start of a new job – newly married – a birth of a child – the recent loss of a loved one – moved to a new area – starting retirement – kids have left home – just got saved (a new Christian) – overcoming an addiction.
5. Let’s examine this man Noah. From the text, we will gain some biblical and practical insight into how to make a new start. Every person can make a new start! How?
First, you must acknowledge your need of others. vs. 16-18
First, you must acknowledge your need of others. vs. 16-18
“Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.
“Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.
Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.
So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.
Noah and family relied on each other to begin this new phase of history.
1. Can you imagine being cooped up with your family and your in-laws for over one year in an ark? When leaving the ark, look what God told Noah in verses 16 and 18.
Did you know that God made us with a built-in need for others?
2. Noah could have had the attitude, “Oh no, I have had enough. You go your way, and I’ll go my way. Just leave me alone.”
But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.
The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained,
and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated,
and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made
and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth.
Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground.
But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him.
He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark.
And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.
Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.
In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry.
In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out.
Then God said to Noah,
“Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.
Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.
Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.
We see this in the Garden when God created Eve to be with Adam
We see this in the family unit
3. But he didn’t. God knew, and Noah was wise enough to know, that if he and his family were to be successful in making a new start, it would take teamwork. They would need each other.
We see this in the tribe and nation
Abraham
Israel
Church
Some of you may feel very alone today.
4. Did you know that God made us with a built-in need for others? Some of you may feel very alone today. Maybe you have lost a spouse or a close friend or a family member. Maybe you have been hurt recently by another person that you love.
We cannot go into a shell or be an island unto yourself.
5. You cannot go into a shell or be an island unto yourself. You need others, and others need you! This is why having a local church is so important.
You need others, and others need you!
This is why having a local church is so important.
The local church is pictured as a body.
7. The local church is pictured as a body. Those of us who know Christ as our Savior and have placed our faith in Him, we are members of that body.
Those of us who know Christ as our Savior and have placed our faith in Him, entered Gods’ family
He then set us in one local church after baptism and made we are members of that body.
;
If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
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God recognizes our need for human relationships, and we need to do the same.
8. But pastor, I am a Lone Ranger. I don’t need anyone. Do you know how many times Tonto bailed out the Lone Ranger? I know – I watched it every morning as a kid.
Do you need to make a new start in some area of your life? Don’t try to do it alone. Acknowledge your need for others.
9. God recognizes our need for human relationships, and we need to do the same. Do you need to make a new start in some area of your life? Don’t try to do it alone. Acknowledge your need for others.
God had compassion.
Second, establish worship as your number one priority. vs. 20-22
Second, establish worship as your number one priority. vs. 20-22
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
Noah and family began their fresh start in worship
1. When Noah made a new start, the first thing he did was build an altar and worship God. God was # 1!
He built an altar and worship God. God was # 1!
Did you know that God desires a relationship with you?
He remembered Noah and the animals
He wants you to talk and spend time with Him.
He longs for your worship and fellowship.
Worship Tips:
The flood began receding
• Noah had a definite time and place of worship.
Noah’s tests
Raven- kept flying
Dove
Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground.
But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him.
Gen 8:8
Second time, came back with a leaf
Third time, stayed
In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry.
In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out.
Then God said to Noah,
Gen 8:13-15
It did not say that he worshipped God while he unloaded the ark or tended the animals.
He built an altar and had a definite time and place where he met with God and offered thanksgiving and worship.
We need to do the same thing. Have a time and place where you meet with God daily.
We need to do the same thing. Have a time and place where you meet with God daily.
God’s Covenant
God’s Covenant
• Noah did not allow the issues of life to crowd out his worship time.
Think about it. Noah had lost everything. There was land to clear, crops to plant, a house to build, etc.
Yet, the first thing we see him doing was not building a plow or a house, but an altar! He had his priorities right. He knew what was most important.
• Noah’s worship moved the heart of God.
There is no mention of his wife, sons, or daughters-in-laws building an altar and worshipping God – only Noah.
In fact, he may have been ridiculed because of it. “What are you doing? What in the world are you building? That doesn’t look like a house?” Noah responds, “It is isn’t. It is an altar.” They say, “A what? Have you lost your mind? I think being around all those animals for so long has made you a little cuckoo. God will wait; we have more important things to tend to.”
Will you be like Noah in 2016? Will you worship God and love God, no matter who else is doing it?
• Noah’s worship moved the heart of God.
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered.
Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.
But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him,
“Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you,
and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth.
I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:
I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,
I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
Gen 8:
God was moved by Noah’s worship. It was a sweet-smelling savor to God. In other words, God loved and enjoyed Noah’s worship.
In fact, God was so moved by Noah’s worship, he made a glorious promise that He would never destroy every living thing again.
We’d all better thank God for Noah’s worship!
If it weren’t for Noah’s worship, we may be in need of another ark
God longs for it.
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Prayer, thanksgiving, and worship of God is something that is to be practiced by believers in every time period from Genesis to Revelation. God never tires of it or says don’t do it.
Prayer, thanksgiving, and worship of God is something that is to be practiced by believers in every time period from Genesis to Revelation. God never tires of it or says don’t do it.
You can make a new start in 2016!
You can turn over new leaves and make New Year’s resolutions until your blue in the face, and none of it will help if worship is not your number one priority.
But on the other hand, if you will establish worship as your number one priority, it will enhance every other area of your life this coming year.
Noah Worshipped
God made a covenant
Third, move forward out of the past. vs. 16-19
Third, move forward out of the past. vs. 16-19
“Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.
Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.
Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.
Third, move forward out of the past. vs. 16-191
We see going out and forward in every verse in verses 16-19.
1. We see the word “forth” in every verse in verses 16-19.
Noah and his family were in the ark for over a year, but now it was time to leave that stage of their lives and move forward. God said, “Go out... ” (vs. 16)
• “Bring forth” (vs. 17)
• “And Noah went forth…” (vs. 18)
• All the animals “…went forth out of the ark.” (vs. 19)
• Webster’s defines the word “forth” as “forward; onward in time.” It says that synonyms are “onward; ahead; forward.”
2. Noah and his family were in the ark for over a year, but now it was time to leave that stage of their lives and move forward. God said, “Go forth... ” (vs. 16)
Noah didn’t sit around in the ark and say, “No, I’m staying right here. I know this ark. I know I’m safe here, and I just want to stay here. I want everything to stay the same. I am satisfied right here!”
Noah realized that he had to move forward.
Things would never be the same as they were the past year for Noah and his family.
The previous year was unique and different.
He couldn’t sit around talking about the way things used to be.
Illustration: A sailboat is trying to get to the other side of the lake. The sails have been set in order to utilize the current winds. But the winds change and the boat quits moving. Somebody suggests, “Let’s change the sails in order to take advantage of the winds and reach our goal. Our current paradigm is not working.” Somebody objects and says, “But we have always set our sails this way in the past. I am comfortable with the past and the way we have always set the sails.” That is fine, and it is an option. But you must concede to sitting on the lake and not moving. Therefore, you must be okay with living in the past, not moving forward, and not reaching your goals.
6. What a lesson for us today! This encourages me personally and as a pastor, especially as it pertains to this ministry, CrossRoads.
7. CrossRoads is at a “crossroads.” We can live in the past or move forward and go forth into the future. We can say, “No, we are comfortable in the ark. We aren’t moving.” Or we can say, “The ark has stopped moving. God is calling us to make some changes.”
• Illustration: A sailboat is trying to get to the other side of the lake. The sails have been set in order to utilize the current winds. But the winds change and the boat quits moving. Somebody suggests, “Let’s change the sails in order to take advantage of the winds and reach our goal. Our current paradigm is not working.” Somebody objects and says, “But we have always set our sails this way in the past. I am comfortable with the past and the way we have always set the sails.” That is fine, and it is an option. But you must concede to sitting on the lake and not moving. Therefore, you must be okay with living in the past, not moving forward, and not reaching your goals.
A church is a living organism.
• We are no longer in 1996 or 2006; we are now in 2016. What we did to reach people and to help people grow in 2006 is irrelevant. Truthfully, what we did last year really doesn’t matter. We have to move forward. We have to constantly adjust and reset the sails. If not, we become immobilized – spinning our wheels. We quit moving.
It is like a person. It cannot stay the same forever.
• I want to encourage you, as we endeavor to make changes in order to reach people and optimize our effectiveness as a church, don’t live in the past. Don’t be a person who wants to just sit in the ark or sit idle in the sailboat on the lake. Be a forward-thinker. Be a person that is all about going forth and moving forward.
Just as you have to press forward and make changes based on where you are in life, a church has to do this too. Especially, if it is to continue to be vibrant and impact people for Christ. Life has its seasons, and this is true in the life of a church. We have to move forward.
• A church is a living organism. It is like a person. It cannot stay the same forever. Just as you have to press forward and make changes based on where you are in life, a church has to do this too. Especially, if it is to continue to be vibrant and impact people for Christ. Life has its seasons, and this is true in the life of a church. We have to move forward.
You must press forward. I like what Paul said in .
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
9. 2016 is now here, and it is a new beginning. God has allowed you and me to see another brand-new year.
In this context, Paul was desiring to know Christ in a greater way. But he knew he had to make a conscious decision to forget the things which were behind.
10. You must press forward. I like what Paul said in . In this context, Paul was desiring to know Christ in a greater way. But he knew he had to make a conscious decision to forget the things which were behind.
You cannot know someone in the present if your heart is dwelling on the past.
• Illustration: Many married couples live in the past. They can’t get past the past! Living in the past will kill your future and make your present miserable.
You can’t change the past, but you can change the meaning of the past. Paul had a rough past. He could have allowed this to weigh him down and destroy him; instead, it became an inspiration to him.
• Forget doesn’t mean that you fail to remember. We are human beings, and though we wish we could erase bad memories, we cannot.
• The idea behind the word “forget” in the Bible is that we are no longer influenced or affected by those past things.
12. You can’t change the past, but you can change the meaning of the past. Paul had a rough past. He could have allowed this to weigh him down and destroy him; instead, it became an inspiration to him.
The events from Paul’s past didn’t change, but Paul’s understanding of them did.
14. Don’t dwell on your past failures; don’t dwell on things you cannot change; don’t dwell on past grudges; don’t dwell on hurtful events. It will not help you, only hinder you. The call to you is the same as it was to Noah – “Go forth.”
In Conclusion:
2. I challenge you to make a decision today to look to 2016 as a year of change in your life. Don’t allow yourself to be shackled to the past, but determine to make this year, 2016, a year in which you allow God to make glorious changes in your life.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Noah and family went out of the ark to begin the earth’s fresh start.
acknowledge our need of others
2. I challenge you to make a decision today to look to 2016 as a year of change in your life. Don’t allow yourself to be shackled to the past, but determine to make this year, 2016, a year in which you allow God to make glorious changes in your life.
Make worship a top prioirty
Move forward for God’s glory
