· PIX: Leap of Faith.
· Faith is making a good decision to take action.
· The Situation.
· Genesis 6:5-7 - 5 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. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”
· Sin is a cancer that destroys the soul
· God is sad when his creation has a cancer that spreads
· Faith means standing apart.
· 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. 9 This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous
man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
· Faith means you listen to God.
· 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out… 17 I am going to bring
floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.
· Are you willing to listen to God?
· God’s sadness precedes his judgment.
· Faith means obedience.
· 22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him
· PIX of leap
· Faith means counting on God
· Genesis 7: 16 - 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.
· Genesis 8:1 - But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.
· God is doing what only God can do.
· Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
· God, I can’t. You can. I will let you.
Group Discussion Questions
Starter: When someone mentions Noah, where does your mind go first?
1. Read Genesis 6:5-22
2. What do we learn about God from this passage? Does this change the way you think about God?
3. Noah is described as a righteous man, blameless in
his generation. Do you know anyone like that? What makes you say they are righteous/blameless?
4. Think about all the things Noah is experiencing he never experienced before: Hearing God speak to him, being told to build a boat (note: this is the first time anyone is told to build a boat!), gather animals, be ready for a flood that had never happened before. What feelings do you think Noah experienced? What kind of faith is required to do what God commanded him?
5. What kinds of things does God ask us to do that we have never done before? What holds us back?
6. Noah must count on God to do things only God can do
– like shut the door of the ark and make the flood waters go away. What kinds of things do we need God to do that only he can do?
