WEBVTT 00:00:09.769 --> 00:00:12.470 Welcome back here to the Semi -Seminarian. If 00:00:12.470 --> 00:00:15.429 you've wandered in here wondering whether grace 00:00:15.429 --> 00:00:18.530 still smolders under the ashes of the wrecks 00:00:18.530 --> 00:00:21.010 of our lives, you know what? You have come to 00:00:21.010 --> 00:00:24.629 the right place. Today's episode is called East 00:00:24.629 --> 00:00:28.350 of Eden, The Altar Still Smokes. And it asks 00:00:28.350 --> 00:00:32.090 a dangerous little question. What if God never 00:00:32.090 --> 00:00:35.630 left the far country? What if he's been lighting 00:00:35.630 --> 00:00:39.789 fires there all along? Hey, you've just found 00:00:39.789 --> 00:00:42.149 an open seat in the sanctuary of a small -town 00:00:42.149 --> 00:00:44.590 Oklahoma church. I'm sure it's probably not Sunday 00:00:44.590 --> 00:00:46.969 morning where you are, but while you're listening, 00:00:47.070 --> 00:00:50.189 guess what? It is. You've just found an open 00:00:50.189 --> 00:00:53.109 seat in the sanctuary. It kind of has creaky 00:00:53.109 --> 00:00:56.770 pews, coffee and styrofoam cups, and a congregation 00:00:56.770 --> 00:00:58.909 that still stands and sings the hymns a little 00:00:58.909 --> 00:01:01.829 bit off -key, but always with our whole hearts. 00:01:02.030 --> 00:01:04.890 Hey, nobody here's got it all together. We just 00:01:04.890 --> 00:01:07.150 come with the dust of the week still on our boots. 00:01:07.849 --> 00:01:09.849 and hope that mercy is big enough for the both 00:01:09.849 --> 00:01:13.989 of us. And as you listen, pay attention to the 00:01:13.989 --> 00:01:18.129 smoke, how it rises from grief, how it curls 00:01:18.129 --> 00:01:21.329 through history, how it carries the sin of a 00:01:21.329 --> 00:01:24.829 God who still remembers your name. Somewhere 00:01:24.829 --> 00:01:28.810 between Cain's city and Seth's altar, between 00:01:28.810 --> 00:01:33.370 sin and grace, we'll hear the heartbeat of redemption. 00:01:34.510 --> 00:01:37.599 My name is Pastor Jim Wellhelp. And I will see 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:45.620 you on the other side. So last week, dear church 00:01:45.620 --> 00:01:49.519 friends, last week we talked about the first 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:52.359 murder in the Bible and we looked at Cain and 00:01:52.359 --> 00:01:59.659 Abel and how we had got to that place where our 00:01:59.659 --> 00:02:04.939 jealousy and our personal anger began to get 00:02:04.939 --> 00:02:09.340 in the way. with our relationship with God. And 00:02:09.340 --> 00:02:14.680 we saw the result. Now, most of us, if we know 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:18.740 anything about the Bible or church or whatever, 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:23.180 we probably have heard the story of Cain and 00:02:23.180 --> 00:02:29.039 Abel. And I promise, most of us here, I'm sure 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:32.560 know something about the story of Noah and his 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:37.520 ark. But what I think a lot of people don't know 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:42.180 much about is the story that happens in between. 00:02:43.080 --> 00:02:46.460 So last week we talked about Cain. Next week 00:02:46.460 --> 00:02:49.159 we're going to talk about Noah. Today the story 00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:53.000 is about what happened in between those two events. 00:02:54.060 --> 00:03:00.199 And this story opens in the silence after violence. 00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:07.020 The ground still remembers the blood and cried 00:03:07.020 --> 00:03:15.639 out from it. Abel is gone. Cain is gone. The 00:03:15.639 --> 00:03:22.159 garden gate has closed. Adam and Eve are left 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:28.819 with empty hands and this long ache, wondering. 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:35.340 The old couple works the same cursed soil, the 00:03:35.340 --> 00:03:38.719 same furrows that once yielded bread by grace 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:46.340 now only gives it by sweat. Eve keeps her eyes 00:03:46.340 --> 00:03:53.300 low, yet sometimes, just sometimes, she looks 00:03:53.300 --> 00:03:57.000 east and wonders if her son Cain is still alive. 00:03:58.990 --> 00:04:04.050 or guilt that somehow swallowed him whole. Grief 00:04:04.050 --> 00:04:10.650 has a sound. Weirdly enough, it's the quiet that 00:04:10.650 --> 00:04:16.709 follows shouting. That's the sound of Genesis 00:04:16.709 --> 00:04:21.810 4 this morning, before our morning's verse 25. 00:04:23.339 --> 00:04:27.160 But then scripture says almost casually, Adam 00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:29.699 lay with his wife again. It doesn't read like 00:04:29.699 --> 00:04:32.939 poetry or miracle. It reads like endurance. Again. 00:04:34.899 --> 00:04:39.180 Sometimes faith is nothing more than one word. 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:46.319 Again. After death, after failure, after exile. 00:04:47.500 --> 00:04:57.009 Again. Adam and Eve choose. to live again. She 00:04:57.009 --> 00:05:01.089 conceives and bears a son, names him Seth, which 00:05:01.089 --> 00:05:07.129 means appointed, not replacement. Appointed. 00:05:08.970 --> 00:05:12.990 It's her way of saying the covenant is still 00:05:12.990 --> 00:05:20.420 alive. The promise still has breath. She's testifying 00:05:20.420 --> 00:05:24.379 through her tears that God's story isn't over 00:05:24.379 --> 00:05:31.199 even when hers feels like it is. That small act, 00:05:31.560 --> 00:05:36.339 naming, sets a new direction in motion. Because 00:05:36.339 --> 00:05:41.279 from this boy will come a lineage. And from that 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:47.250 lineage, a world. speaks faith, not from the 00:05:47.250 --> 00:05:51.350 mountain, but from the ruins. She doesn't shout 00:05:51.350 --> 00:05:56.490 it. She whispers it in the dirt, and it hears 00:05:56.490 --> 00:06:02.589 her. Out of barren ground, our seed still lives. 00:06:03.029 --> 00:06:08.029 Out of silence, one syllable of grace. What the 00:06:08.029 --> 00:06:10.970 world calls finished, God calls a beginning. 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:15.259 Where the blood cried out for vengeance, mercy 00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:19.139 hums a new melody under the soil. My friends, 00:06:19.180 --> 00:06:22.560 the reading of Scripture, Genesis chapter 4. 00:06:23.480 --> 00:06:26.920 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a 00:06:26.920 --> 00:06:30.360 son and called him Seth. For she said, God has 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:33.220 appointed for me another offspring instead of 00:06:33.220 --> 00:06:39.040 Abel, for Cain killed him. And to Seth also a 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:44.870 son was born. And he called his name Enosh. At 00:06:44.870 --> 00:06:50.449 that time, people began to call on the name of 00:06:50.449 --> 00:06:57.230 the Lord. Two verses, that's all. But between 00:06:57.230 --> 00:07:04.189 them lies the hinge of human history. Grief becomes 00:07:04.189 --> 00:07:10.550 grace. Silence becomes a song. The first ember 00:07:10.550 --> 00:07:15.870 of worship glows again in the ashes of loss. 00:07:19.709 --> 00:07:23.569 You ever stop praying because you figured God 00:07:23.569 --> 00:07:28.209 had quit listening? If we're honest, every single 00:07:28.209 --> 00:07:31.170 one of us has built a house somewhere east of 00:07:31.170 --> 00:07:35.540 Eden. We have all looked at the mess we have 00:07:35.540 --> 00:07:38.439 made or the loss we didn't choose and thought 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:44.560 maybe God has just moved on. Eve could have done 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:52.779 that. She could have said, two sons gone. The 00:07:52.779 --> 00:08:00.019 promise broken. I am done believing. But she 00:08:00.019 --> 00:08:04.839 doesn't. She names the new child Seth from the 00:08:04.839 --> 00:08:10.220 Hebrew word shoth, and it means to appoint or 00:08:10.220 --> 00:08:16.819 to set in place. That's faith language. Eve is 00:08:16.819 --> 00:08:21.180 saying the covenant didn't die with Abel. God 00:08:21.180 --> 00:08:25.699 is still working even in the midst of my ruin. 00:08:27.529 --> 00:08:30.829 When life falls apart, we usually name what's 00:08:30.829 --> 00:08:36.490 left according to our pain, replacement, or regret, 00:08:36.789 --> 00:08:42.649 or reminder. Eve names hers according to God's 00:08:42.649 --> 00:08:48.129 purpose. She calls him appointed. The difference 00:08:48.129 --> 00:08:52.610 between despair and faith is often nothing more 00:08:52.610 --> 00:08:55.110 than what you choose to name the next thing God 00:08:55.110 --> 00:08:59.320 gives you. That was a tongue twister. Genesis 00:08:59.320 --> 00:09:06.080 says that through Seth's son Enosh, not Enoch, 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:08.519 we're not there yet. We've got centuries to go. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:13.059 Enosh, people began to call on the name of the 00:09:13.059 --> 00:09:17.559 Lord. And that is the first recorded act of worship 00:09:17.559 --> 00:09:25.279 since Eden. No choirs, no priests, just... Somebody 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:31.200 whispering God's name again and realizing heaven 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:37.120 still hears. That's how revival starts, not with 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:40.960 crowds, but with one person who refuses to let 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:45.179 silence have the last word. Maybe it was Eve 00:09:45.179 --> 00:09:49.840 teaching her grandsons these stories, telling 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:53.110 them about the garden. about the promise that 00:09:53.110 --> 00:09:58.169 one day a son would crush a serpent. Maybe little 00:09:58.169 --> 00:10:01.250 Enosh learned to pray from a grandmother who 00:10:01.250 --> 00:10:04.009 had buried half her heart but still believed 00:10:04.009 --> 00:10:08.970 God was good. Here's what I love. Nothing miraculous 00:10:08.970 --> 00:10:13.809 happens in these two verses. No thunder, no angels, 00:10:13.990 --> 00:10:19.250 no spectacle, just childbirth naming lineage. 00:10:20.750 --> 00:10:25.409 The ordinary cycle of life. And yet heaven writes 00:10:25.409 --> 00:10:29.909 it down like a headline. Holiness often hides 00:10:29.909 --> 00:10:36.370 in the routine. After catastrophe, the most radical 00:10:36.370 --> 00:10:46.129 act of faith is to begin again. And maybe that's 00:10:46.129 --> 00:10:51.500 the miracle God's waiting on in your life. Not 00:10:51.500 --> 00:10:56.080 lightning, not revival, not fireworks, but your 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:02.440 willingness to rise tomorrow and try again. That's 00:11:02.440 --> 00:11:07.340 where Genesis chapter 4 and 25 lives, in the 00:11:07.340 --> 00:11:11.840 again. In the soil still damp with tears, a mother 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:15.120 whispers a name, and the story of redemption 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:20.070 keeps on breathing. While Cain's descendants 00:11:20.070 --> 00:11:23.370 were inventing tools and songs of vengeance, 00:11:23.870 --> 00:11:30.970 Seth's family was tuning the soul. One line writes 00:11:30.970 --> 00:11:36.029 music about power. The other sings prayers for 00:11:36.029 --> 00:11:39.990 mercy. And right there, friends, listen close. 00:11:40.070 --> 00:11:44.610 This is how the rain starts falling. Right there, 00:11:44.669 --> 00:11:48.029 that split, when the world splits those two kinds 00:11:48.029 --> 00:11:52.090 of people now, they're now two kinds of worship. 00:11:53.710 --> 00:11:58.389 And you can still hear both songs on any radio 00:11:58.389 --> 00:12:04.269 dial. One glorifies pride, the other whispers 00:12:04.269 --> 00:12:09.769 grace. And maybe that's the truest sign that 00:12:09.769 --> 00:12:14.250 worship has returned to the earth. Humanity remembers, 00:12:14.509 --> 00:12:20.250 even east of paradise, the spirit still hovers, 00:12:20.250 --> 00:12:25.649 waiting for someone to call. Worship was never 00:12:25.649 --> 00:12:33.210 our idea. It's our memory. Before there was law, 00:12:33.250 --> 00:12:37.509 or temple, or Israel, or any of that, there was 00:12:37.509 --> 00:12:43.960 this. A family, simply. Calling on the name of 00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:48.559 the Lord. And some of us have been living between 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:52.659 the loss we've suffered and the promise we can't 00:12:52.659 --> 00:12:58.279 see yet. You've got dirt under your fingernails 00:12:58.279 --> 00:13:02.039 and questions in your prayers. Dear friends, 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:07.080 listen. Eve's story says God still appoints life 00:13:07.080 --> 00:13:12.120 even in dead places. If... You are breathing. 00:13:12.379 --> 00:13:16.600 There is still a line running from your pain 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:20.779 to his promise. You don't have to understand 00:13:20.779 --> 00:13:27.139 it. You just have to call on his name again. 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:33.580 Because maybe the first sound of healing isn't 00:13:33.580 --> 00:13:39.419 victory. Maybe the first sound of healing Is 00:13:39.419 --> 00:13:45.019 just your voice. Saying his name. One more time. 00:13:47.559 --> 00:13:55.919 We pause. And see Eve. Holding Seth. A child. 00:13:55.940 --> 00:13:58.899 Named for appointment. Not for replacement. Through 00:13:58.899 --> 00:14:03.179 him the world learn. To speak God's name again. 00:14:03.720 --> 00:14:11.419 But. Just over the horizon. Cain's descendants 00:14:11.419 --> 00:14:15.740 were learning another language, the language 00:14:15.740 --> 00:14:23.440 of pride, progress, and self -reliance. Two families 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:29.299 now walk the earth. One calls upward, the other 00:14:29.299 --> 00:14:33.659 looks inward, and between them stand two altars 00:14:33.659 --> 00:14:37.980 and two Every generation since has had to choose 00:14:37.980 --> 00:14:44.820 which one to build. Genesis says Cain settled 00:14:44.820 --> 00:14:48.980 in the land of Nod, east of Eden, and built a 00:14:48.980 --> 00:14:53.279 city named for his son. It's the first city in 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:58.759 scripture born from exile. The man who was supposed 00:14:58.759 --> 00:15:02.840 to wander builds walls instead. I find this interesting 00:15:02.840 --> 00:15:07.659 because... Cain does what we all do when guilt 00:15:07.659 --> 00:15:11.779 burns inside of us. We start constructing things 00:15:11.779 --> 00:15:17.159 big enough to drown out our shame. If we can't 00:15:17.159 --> 00:15:20.759 find God, maybe we can build something impressive 00:15:20.759 --> 00:15:26.100 enough to forget him. That's the human pattern. 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:32.659 The further we drift, From God's presence, the 00:15:32.659 --> 00:15:36.759 more we try to replace it with noise and achievement. 00:15:37.259 --> 00:15:44.019 And Cain's line does just that. His descendants 00:15:44.019 --> 00:15:49.740 fill the world with industry and art. Jabal lives 00:15:49.740 --> 00:15:54.019 in tents and raises livestock. Jubal invents 00:15:54.019 --> 00:16:00.570 music. Tubal Cain forges iron and bronze. They 00:16:00.570 --> 00:16:05.289 give the world trade, beauty, tools. But not 00:16:05.289 --> 00:16:11.570 one of them calls on the name of the Lord. The 00:16:11.570 --> 00:16:16.450 genius of humanity grows while the soul withers. 00:16:18.450 --> 00:16:21.370 Then there's, we're going to skip through a bunch 00:16:21.370 --> 00:16:23.070 of pages because we want to get to next week 00:16:23.070 --> 00:16:29.269 before Christmas. Then there's Lamech. Lamech 00:16:29.269 --> 00:16:36.990 is the seventh from Cain. And he writes the first 00:16:36.990 --> 00:16:41.889 poem recorded in the Bible, a boast about a murder 00:16:41.889 --> 00:16:46.929 he committed. He sings to his wives, I have killed 00:16:46.929 --> 00:16:51.330 the man for wounding me. It's the first country 00:16:51.330 --> 00:16:56.039 radio song about vengeance. Violence that began 00:16:56.039 --> 00:17:00.539 in a field now has become an art form. That's 00:17:00.539 --> 00:17:05.880 what sin does. It turns our wounds into ballads 00:17:05.880 --> 00:17:11.220 and our revenge into pride. You can almost see 00:17:11.220 --> 00:17:14.220 the smoke rising from those two altars now, one 00:17:14.220 --> 00:17:19.400 from Cain's smelting forge, one from Seth's altars. 00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:23.680 Both give off light. One warms, the other scorches. 00:17:24.650 --> 00:17:30.849 One smells like worship, the other war. The city 00:17:30.849 --> 00:17:34.789 of Cain isn't evil because it's civilized. It's 00:17:34.789 --> 00:17:40.250 dangerous because it's godless. There is a difference 00:17:40.250 --> 00:17:44.650 between culture and covenant. Cain's people built 00:17:44.650 --> 00:17:48.430 without prayer. Seth's people pray while they 00:17:48.430 --> 00:17:53.769 build. Cain's descendants chase progress. to 00:17:53.769 --> 00:17:59.589 fill silence. Seth's descendants fill the silence 00:17:59.589 --> 00:18:05.930 with praise. Humanity begins to divide, not by 00:18:05.930 --> 00:18:12.990 geography, but posture. One kneeling, one standing 00:18:12.990 --> 00:18:18.569 tall. And when the text says that people began 00:18:18.569 --> 00:18:21.049 to call on the name of the Lord, it means more 00:18:21.049 --> 00:18:24.880 than just praying. It's covenant recognition. 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:29.319 They were invoking God's character. They were 00:18:29.319 --> 00:18:33.440 declaring dependence on him, choosing to orient 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:39.900 their lives towards him again. In Hebrew thought, 00:18:40.099 --> 00:18:46.000 to call upon a name is to trust that name, to 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:52.670 stake it to your identity. So, here's the picture. 00:18:53.730 --> 00:18:57.210 While Cain's descendants are naming cities after 00:18:57.210 --> 00:19:02.630 themselves, Seth's family is naming God as Lord. 00:19:04.130 --> 00:19:08.450 One names Legacy, the other names Surrender. 00:19:09.130 --> 00:19:13.809 And that, friends, is the heart of worship, to 00:19:13.809 --> 00:19:19.730 give the naming rights back to God. The genealogy 00:19:19.730 --> 00:19:24.170 of Genesis 5 shows that worship has a long memory. 00:19:25.930 --> 00:19:32.170 We get to Jared, and he is the father of the 00:19:32.170 --> 00:19:34.910 guy you probably thought when I was saying Enosh, 00:19:34.930 --> 00:19:42.210 Enoch. And Enoch walks with God. He has a son, 00:19:42.390 --> 00:19:46.369 Methuselah, and he lives longer than any man. 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:54.319 Bible trivia, 969 years. As if grace keeps delaying 00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:59.059 judgment. These people live ordinary lives, but 00:19:59.059 --> 00:20:03.900 inside a different story. One where faith, not 00:20:03.900 --> 00:20:11.500 fear, determines their future. Meanwhile, Cain's 00:20:11.500 --> 00:20:16.039 line disappears into history. The city he built? 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:24.119 is gone. His song of vengeance fades. But Seth's 00:20:24.119 --> 00:20:32.380 altar, it still smokes. It's the same fire Abraham 00:20:32.380 --> 00:20:38.039 will stoke. The same flame Elijah will call down. 00:20:38.980 --> 00:20:43.119 The same spirit that will fall at Pentecost. 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:49.319 Here is what Genesis is preaching long before 00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:57.799 Sinai or Calvary. The world will always offer 00:20:57.799 --> 00:21:05.180 you two gospels. One says, make something of 00:21:05.180 --> 00:21:09.140 yourself. The other says, surrender yourself 00:21:09.140 --> 00:21:17.259 to God. One worships ability. The other worships 00:21:17.259 --> 00:21:22.759 grace. One tries to climb back into Eden. The 00:21:22.759 --> 00:21:27.960 other waits for heaven to come down. The question 00:21:27.960 --> 00:21:32.640 isn't whether we build. It's what we build for. 00:21:33.799 --> 00:21:38.220 Every hammer stroke, every melody carries theology 00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:45.319 in it. The city of Cain hums with self -salvation. 00:21:47.000 --> 00:21:52.220 The altar of Seth hums with dependence. Both 00:21:52.220 --> 00:22:00.480 are creative, but only one is redemptive. And 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:03.720 maybe that's what the world still needs to hear 00:22:03.720 --> 00:22:09.829 from the church. against building cities, making 00:22:09.829 --> 00:22:14.769 music, forging steel. We just refuse to do it 00:22:14.769 --> 00:22:18.190 without remembering the one who gives us the 00:22:18.190 --> 00:22:22.529 very breath to begin with. The problem in this 00:22:22.529 --> 00:22:29.069 world isn't progress, it's forgetfulness. Creativity 00:22:29.069 --> 00:22:35.170 isn't sin, it's creation with amnesia. And the 00:22:35.170 --> 00:22:40.920 dangerous thing, friends, is when we stop calling 00:22:40.920 --> 00:22:44.380 on the name of the Lord, we will start calling 00:22:44.380 --> 00:22:49.099 everything else by our own. And the moment we 00:22:49.099 --> 00:22:57.180 do, even our best work turns hollow. Cain's city 00:22:57.180 --> 00:23:02.299 eventually sinks into the dust. Seth's song keeps 00:23:02.299 --> 00:23:08.380 echoing through eternity. That line that prayed 00:23:08.380 --> 00:23:14.720 is the line that survives. That's the truth sitting 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:19.380 right there in Genesis 4. Two genealogies, two 00:23:19.380 --> 00:23:24.079 gospels, two altars. The smoke fades from one 00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:27.839 with the wind. The smoke from the other rises 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:32.599 all the way to Calvary. where another son will 00:23:32.599 --> 00:23:36.400 cry out one more time and reopen the door home. 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:42.880 Cain built his city, self built his altar. Two 00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:45.599 families walked the same earth under different 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:51.900 skies. And for a while, the smoke of worship 00:23:51.900 --> 00:23:57.220 still drifted upwards. But by the time we reached 00:23:57.220 --> 00:24:05.400 Genesis 6, A smoke is nearly gone. The world 00:24:05.400 --> 00:24:08.220 now has filled with people, but not with prayer. 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.119 The noise of violence drowns out the sound of 00:24:14.119 --> 00:24:18.819 praise. Humanity has now learned to build and 00:24:18.819 --> 00:24:26.259 sing and conquer, but not to remember. And by 00:24:26.259 --> 00:24:30.359 now, The descendants of Cain and the descendants 00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:35.359 of Seth have mingled so completely that no one 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:41.680 can tell which fire burns for God anymore. That's 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:46.000 what corruption looks like. It's not always rebellion 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:51.220 in the open. Sometimes it's worship without reverence, 00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:57.220 progress without gratitude. The story, friends, 00:24:57.359 --> 00:25:02.599 is clear. When we stop calling on the name of 00:25:02.599 --> 00:25:06.059 the Lord, we start calling everything else our 00:25:06.059 --> 00:25:11.599 own. Genesis says the Lord saw the wickedness 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:17.920 of humanity was now great on the earth and that 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:21.759 every intention of the heart was only evil continually. 00:25:24.109 --> 00:25:27.069 The Hebrew word for violence there is a word 00:25:27.069 --> 00:25:31.049 you may have heard in the news lately. Hamas. 00:25:32.069 --> 00:25:36.849 The same word used for cruelty, injustice, oppression. 00:25:38.769 --> 00:25:45.029 The whole world had become a cane city. The altar 00:25:45.029 --> 00:25:51.250 had been replaced by ambition. And the text says, 00:25:51.509 --> 00:25:57.430 as a result, God was grieved in his heart. It's 00:25:57.430 --> 00:26:00.309 one of the most staggering lines in scripture. 00:26:02.029 --> 00:26:08.089 The creator isn't just enraged at first. He's 00:26:08.089 --> 00:26:14.509 heartbroken. The one who shaped the dust now 00:26:14.509 --> 00:26:20.089 mourns what the dust has done. The God who walked 00:26:20.089 --> 00:26:22.890 in the garden now weeps over what the garden 00:26:22.890 --> 00:26:28.349 has become. Judgment in this story doesn't come 00:26:28.349 --> 00:26:36.150 from hatred. It comes from heartbreak. But right 00:26:36.150 --> 00:26:40.549 when it seems like the smoke had faded for good, 00:26:40.809 --> 00:26:49.180 one line rises above the ruins. But Noah. found 00:26:49.180 --> 00:26:54.759 grace in the eyes of the Lord. And that is the 00:26:54.759 --> 00:27:00.519 sentence that saves the world. This time, not 00:27:00.519 --> 00:27:05.039 a city, but an ark. The altar becomes a boat. 00:27:05.619 --> 00:27:09.400 And the same mercy that met Eve in her grief 00:27:09.400 --> 00:27:16.599 meets Noah in the flood. You can trace it straight 00:27:16.599 --> 00:27:21.380 from... Abel's offering to Seth's altar to Noah's 00:27:21.380 --> 00:27:28.400 obedience. Every time humanity forgets, God finds 00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:35.519 one person willing to remember. Every time the 00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:41.359 fire almost dies out, he finds someone to strike 00:27:41.359 --> 00:27:45.200 the flint again. And that, dear friends, is what 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:50.619 he is doing today. So let me ask you, church, 00:27:50.779 --> 00:27:56.259 what kind of smoke is rising from your life? 00:27:58.079 --> 00:28:03.380 Because every one of us burns something. We burn 00:28:03.380 --> 00:28:07.720 time. We burn effort. We burn love on whatever 00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:11.839 we worship. The question isn't whether there 00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:14.039 is fire in your life, but whether it's on the 00:28:14.039 --> 00:28:18.480 altar or in the forge. The altar refines, the 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:21.579 forge consumes. The altar changes us, the forge 00:28:21.579 --> 00:28:30.500 hardens us. And the good news is that grace still 00:28:30.500 --> 00:28:35.160 travels east of Eden, still walks through the 00:28:35.160 --> 00:28:38.460 cities of pride, still passes by the forges of 00:28:38.460 --> 00:28:42.740 vengeance. And it still looks for the faintest 00:28:42.740 --> 00:28:48.319 ember of faith. Noah didn't earn grace. He found 00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:52.059 it. Because grace was out there looking for it. 00:28:53.180 --> 00:28:57.859 That's what God does. He walks through the burned 00:28:57.859 --> 00:29:03.059 out fields and asks, where is the smoke? Sometimes 00:29:03.059 --> 00:29:06.940 we think revival means noise. But here in Genesis, 00:29:07.059 --> 00:29:11.789 it starts with a whisper. Sometimes we think 00:29:11.789 --> 00:29:14.549 God only moves in crowds, but he often starts 00:29:14.549 --> 00:29:17.390 with one person who simply remembered how to 00:29:17.390 --> 00:29:22.930 pray. World fell apart because everyone forgot 00:29:22.930 --> 00:29:28.730 God's name. And it began again because one man 00:29:28.730 --> 00:29:33.650 remembered it. That's why you and I can't quit 00:29:33.650 --> 00:29:38.470 calling on him now. The world doesn't need louder 00:29:38.470 --> 00:29:44.410 sermons or shinier cities. It needs altars. It 00:29:44.410 --> 00:29:47.690 needs ordinary believers who will wake up, whisper 00:29:47.690 --> 00:29:51.049 his name, and build small fires that refuse to 00:29:51.049 --> 00:29:54.789 go out. And maybe you're sitting here feeling 00:29:54.789 --> 00:30:01.309 like your fire is long gone. Maybe the floodwaters 00:30:01.309 --> 00:30:04.109 have taken everything familiar and you are just 00:30:04.109 --> 00:30:09.359 trying to stay afloat. Listen, grace today is 00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:13.940 the same as it has always been. When the Lord 00:30:13.940 --> 00:30:17.319 looked at the violence of the earth, he didn't 00:30:17.319 --> 00:30:22.279 say, start over without me. He said, build something 00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:29.660 that floats. That's faith. It's obedience when 00:30:29.660 --> 00:30:35.059 everything around you is drowning. And when Noah 00:30:35.059 --> 00:30:38.380 finally steps off that ark, the first thing he 00:30:38.380 --> 00:30:42.380 does is not build a house or plant a crop. He 00:30:42.380 --> 00:30:48.359 builds an altar. The very first puff of smoke 00:30:48.359 --> 00:30:53.980 after the flood smells like worship again. It's 00:30:53.980 --> 00:30:56.420 the same smoke that started with Eve and Seth, 00:30:56.599 --> 00:31:00.460 now rising through Noah and reaching God's heart 00:31:00.460 --> 00:31:05.720 once more. So the call this morning is simple. 00:31:07.019 --> 00:31:11.759 Light the altar again. Let your life be that 00:31:11.759 --> 00:31:14.519 thin column of smoke that reminds heaven you 00:31:14.519 --> 00:31:19.000 still remember its name. Pray again. Love again. 00:31:19.319 --> 00:31:25.180 Forgive again. Do it, not because you're strong, 00:31:25.440 --> 00:31:29.519 but because grace still searches for someone 00:31:29.519 --> 00:31:35.509 to keep the fire going. Picture it. Floodwaters 00:31:35.509 --> 00:31:39.730 receding, the ground wet and waiting. One man 00:31:39.730 --> 00:31:43.829 stands beside a pile of stones, a small flame 00:31:43.829 --> 00:31:47.450 flickering, the wind carrying the scent of sacrifice. 00:31:47.609 --> 00:31:55.029 God breathes in and calls it good. The rainbow 00:31:55.029 --> 00:32:02.299 hasn't even shown up yet, but worship has. the 00:32:02.299 --> 00:32:08.119 gospel rhythm from Eden to Calvary. Sin builds 00:32:08.119 --> 00:32:13.880 cities. Grace builds altars. Humanity keeps drifting 00:32:13.880 --> 00:32:17.759 east and God keeps sending wind to carry the 00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:22.440 smoke westward home. The altar still smokes, 00:32:22.519 --> 00:32:27.539 church. The promise still stands. And the same 00:32:27.539 --> 00:32:30.339 grace that found Noah. still walks your way this 00:32:30.339 --> 00:32:34.519 morning asking just one question. Do I still 00:32:34.519 --> 00:32:45.980 see your smoke? Amen? Amen. You've been listening 00:32:45.980 --> 00:32:48.740 to the Semi -Seminarian this morning. Today, 00:32:48.900 --> 00:32:52.819 we stood together east of Eden, where the dirt 00:32:52.819 --> 00:32:55.240 still remembers the blood and the altar still 00:32:55.240 --> 00:32:59.039 smokes. We heard. How grace doesn't just wait 00:32:59.039 --> 00:33:02.859 inside the garden. She walks the long road with 00:33:02.859 --> 00:33:08.220 us. Cain built cities to forget. Seth built altars 00:33:08.220 --> 00:33:12.440 to remember. Somewhere between those two, we 00:33:12.440 --> 00:33:17.759 found ourselves. Half saint, half wanderer. Learning 00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:23.339 again to call on the name of the Lord. If the 00:33:23.339 --> 00:33:25.759 sermon found you this week, let it do its work. 00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:28.920 Let it convict you where you've built without 00:33:28.920 --> 00:33:31.920 God. Let it comfort you where the ashes still 00:33:31.920 --> 00:33:35.380 glow. Grace hasn't given up on you yet. She is 00:33:35.380 --> 00:33:38.839 still looking for a little smoke rising from 00:33:38.839 --> 00:33:44.079 your life. Now, before you go, I've got to say, 00:33:44.220 --> 00:33:47.000 those old preachers that we used to listen to 00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:51.670 on the radio or watch on late night TV, We all 00:33:51.670 --> 00:33:54.349 grew up with those guys used to tell us, hey, 00:33:54.490 --> 00:33:56.670 you got to send money to me if you wanted to 00:33:56.670 --> 00:34:00.049 hear the good news. Well, guess what? I'm not 00:34:00.049 --> 00:34:04.150 asking you for a dime, but I am asking you to 00:34:04.150 --> 00:34:06.190 throw that old like into the offering plate. 00:34:06.289 --> 00:34:09.170 That's how we spread the good news around here. 00:34:09.590 --> 00:34:12.690 And if you really believe in what we're trying 00:34:12.690 --> 00:34:17.090 to do, go ahead and tithe your subscribe. That 00:34:17.090 --> 00:34:20.400 way, every time the church lights come on, You 00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:23.260 know we have a church. We sure would love for 00:34:23.260 --> 00:34:26.579 you to join us. Hey, I'll see you next week.