WEBVTT 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:12.539 Hey friend, welcome back here to the semi -seminary 00:00:12.539 --> 00:00:16.379 and wherever you are right now, it probably isn't 00:00:16.379 --> 00:00:19.760 Sunday morning on the clock, but it's Sunday 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:21.859 morning here in your headphones. You've just 00:00:21.859 --> 00:00:25.600 found yourself an open pew in a small town, Oklahoma 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:28.260 church, sunlight slanting through the windows, 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:31.140 coffee still warm in the foyer, and you know 00:00:31.140 --> 00:00:35.340 what? It's time for church. We've been on quite 00:00:35.340 --> 00:00:37.859 a journey lately, walking the road that runs 00:00:37.859 --> 00:00:40.960 between the garden and the flood. Now, a lot 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:43.240 of folks skip that section of scripture, but 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:46.140 there is more life and heartbreak there than 00:00:46.140 --> 00:00:50.320 most of us remember. And we started out in Cain's 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:52.520 field, listening to the ground and how it learned 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:56.780 to cry. Then we followed the smoke from Seth's 00:00:56.780 --> 00:00:59.759 altar, learning that worship still rises even 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:04.189 when the world forgets God's name. And now we've 00:01:04.189 --> 00:01:06.609 come to the third and final part of this little 00:01:06.609 --> 00:01:10.069 revival through Genesis, the story of Noah, rain 00:01:10.069 --> 00:01:14.209 and remembering. If you've missed the first two, 00:01:14.269 --> 00:01:16.590 circle back and catch them because they'll set 00:01:16.590 --> 00:01:19.349 the table for what we're about to hear today. 00:01:19.489 --> 00:01:24.430 So settle in, tune your heart. Let's see what 00:01:24.430 --> 00:01:28.849 grace sounds like after the storm. And I will 00:01:28.849 --> 00:01:36.969 see you on the other side. Okay, we are actually 00:01:36.969 --> 00:01:41.489 wrapping up a three -part series called East 00:01:41.489 --> 00:01:45.150 of Eden. And what we've been doing in these three 00:01:45.150 --> 00:01:48.790 parts is we've kind of been looking at what is 00:01:48.790 --> 00:01:53.890 the story of the Bible, the people involved, 00:01:54.310 --> 00:01:58.950 between, because most of us know, Adam and Eve 00:01:58.950 --> 00:02:02.310 lived in the garden and then they ate the... 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:07.680 and then they got kicked out. And most everybody 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:12.759 knows that. And then we all, almost all of us, 00:02:12.780 --> 00:02:17.319 know this story about Noah and the flood and 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:22.319 the rainbow. But a lot of us don't know what 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:25.379 happened in the in -between part. And that's 00:02:25.379 --> 00:02:27.879 actually what we have been looking at over these 00:02:27.879 --> 00:02:31.819 last three weeks. We've walked. these stories 00:02:31.819 --> 00:02:37.039 together. First, we stood in Cain's field and 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:43.419 we heard how the ground learned to cry. Then 00:02:43.419 --> 00:02:48.340 we watched a mark. Remember he got marked? And 00:02:48.340 --> 00:02:51.860 how the mark of a murderer kept the story from 00:02:51.860 --> 00:02:56.840 ending. After that, last week, we looked at the 00:02:56.840 --> 00:03:01.580 column of thin worship rising. From the third 00:03:01.580 --> 00:03:07.960 son, Seth, from his altar, carried it through 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:15.379 long genealogies. We found one man still listening 00:03:15.379 --> 00:03:18.860 for God while the world had forgotten his name. 00:03:19.620 --> 00:03:25.240 Noah, who built an ark by faith, and when the 00:03:25.240 --> 00:03:31.550 waters fell, built an altar by memory. Those 00:03:31.550 --> 00:03:36.729 two sermons hum under today's text like a bass 00:03:36.729 --> 00:03:44.509 note. Sin builds cities. Grace builds altars. 00:03:46.370 --> 00:03:51.689 Now, in the story, the storm has passed. And 00:03:51.689 --> 00:03:54.789 the question we're left to wrestle is not did 00:03:54.789 --> 00:04:02.840 we survive, but what now? If the first two movements 00:04:02.840 --> 00:04:07.860 taught us where the smoke came from, then this 00:04:07.860 --> 00:04:12.780 closing song asks us where the bow will point 00:04:12.780 --> 00:04:19.699 and whether we will remember why it shines at 00:04:19.699 --> 00:04:25.920 all. As we begin our story, the smell of the 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:33.540 air is like wet cedar and... Animals. Sunlight 00:04:33.540 --> 00:04:38.899 breaks through a sky rinsed clean. And everything, 00:04:39.180 --> 00:04:51.579 everything seems to be exhaling at once. The 00:04:51.579 --> 00:04:57.519 birds stunned post -storm quiet. Even the ravens 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:02.699 now look reverent. Noah's hand rests on the ark's 00:05:02.699 --> 00:05:07.439 rail, calloused and ready. But there's a tremor 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:13.180 in him that has nothing to do with his age. You 00:05:13.180 --> 00:05:19.660 don't ride judgment in a wooden houseboat across 00:05:19.660 --> 00:05:24.199 a world of water and then just step off casual. 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:31.610 The ground is new. but familiar at the same time. 00:05:32.889 --> 00:05:38.730 Mud that remembers Eden. Clay that hasn't learned 00:05:38.730 --> 00:05:44.829 to lie yet. It yields underfoot like promise. 00:05:46.129 --> 00:05:51.750 Behind Noah, the ark sits half on shore, half 00:05:51.750 --> 00:05:57.319 in memory. A beached testimony. that obedience 00:05:57.319 --> 00:06:03.720 to God can float. And ahead of him, there is 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:11.699 no map. Only wind and sun and horizon, like mercy, 00:06:11.740 --> 00:06:17.319 might live there. And you, you might see it in 00:06:17.319 --> 00:06:23.629 his eyes. Do you still remember us, Lord? He's 00:06:23.629 --> 00:06:30.230 done everything by the book. If the book is a 00:06:30.230 --> 00:06:33.949 voice and a set of measurements received in violent 00:06:33.949 --> 00:06:41.110 rage, he obeyed when his neighbors laughed. He 00:06:41.110 --> 00:06:47.930 hammered while the sky was still blue. He waited 00:06:47.930 --> 00:06:57.699 inside while the world turned to water. And now 00:06:57.699 --> 00:07:05.019 he waits again, this time on dry ground with 00:07:05.019 --> 00:07:14.379 a different ache. How do we begin to live again? 00:07:16.540 --> 00:07:23.279 Before the first stone is stacked, Before the 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:27.060 first flame licks the morning air, a hush falls. 00:07:29.379 --> 00:07:33.740 The kind right after thunder leaves and before 00:07:33.740 --> 00:07:39.079 the birds dare to sing again. You already know 00:07:39.079 --> 00:07:42.959 the feeling. You've stood in hospital parking 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:48.759 lots at dawn. In empty kitchens after a hard 00:07:48.759 --> 00:07:53.980 night. In sanctuaries where yesterday's tears 00:07:53.980 --> 00:07:59.620 have yet to dry, the world keeps its breath to 00:07:59.620 --> 00:08:05.540 hear what God might say next. And into that listening 00:08:05.540 --> 00:08:11.680 silence, Scripture opens its mouth. Friends, 00:08:11.720 --> 00:08:17.350 the reading of the word, Genesis chapter 8. But 00:08:17.350 --> 00:08:20.350 God remembered Noah and all of the wild animals 00:08:20.350 --> 00:08:22.870 and all of the domestic animals that were with 00:08:22.870 --> 00:08:28.290 him in the ark. Great start. And God made a wind 00:08:28.290 --> 00:08:33.350 blow over the earth. The waters subsided. The 00:08:33.350 --> 00:08:36.350 fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven 00:08:36.350 --> 00:08:40.889 were closed. The rain from the heavens restrained. 00:08:42.370 --> 00:08:47.580 And the waters. gradually receded from the earth. 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:55.799 At the end of 150 days, the waters had abated. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:02.580 And in the seventh month, on the seventh day 00:09:02.580 --> 00:09:07.320 of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:13.120 of Ararat. The waters continued to abate until 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:16.080 the tenth month. And in the tenth month, on the 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:18.799 first day of the month, the tops of the mountains 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:23.580 began to appear. And at the end of forty days, 00:09:23.700 --> 00:09:26.759 Noah opened the window of the ark that had been 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:31.720 made and sent out a raven. And it went to and 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:35.100 fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. 00:09:36.279 --> 00:09:40.360 He then sent out the dove from him. to see if 00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:43.379 the waters had subsided from the face of the 00:09:43.379 --> 00:09:48.240 ground. But the dove found no place to set its 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:51.960 foot, and it returned to him the ark, for the 00:09:51.960 --> 00:09:55.399 waters were still on the face of the whole earth. 00:09:57.059 --> 00:09:59.940 So he put out his hand, and he took it and brought 00:09:59.940 --> 00:10:02.919 it into the ark with him, and he waited another 00:10:02.919 --> 00:10:09.570 seven days. And again he sent out the dove. From 00:10:09.570 --> 00:10:13.789 the ark. And the dove came back to him in the 00:10:13.789 --> 00:10:18.629 evening and in its beak, a freshly plucked olive 00:10:18.629 --> 00:10:23.830 leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided 00:10:23.830 --> 00:10:26.730 from the earth. Then he waited another seven 00:10:26.730 --> 00:10:31.129 days and sent out the dove and it did not return 00:10:31.129 --> 00:10:39.980 to him anymore. In the 600. First year. In the 00:10:39.980 --> 00:10:42.639 first month, the first day of the month, the 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:46.340 waters were dried up from the earth. And Noah 00:10:46.340 --> 00:10:49.139 removed the covering of the ark and looked and 00:10:49.139 --> 00:10:53.399 saw that the face of the ground was drying. In 00:10:53.399 --> 00:10:56.919 the second month, on the 27th day of the month, 00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:05.559 the earth was dry. Then God said to Noah, Go. 00:11:06.139 --> 00:11:09.600 Out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:13.179 and your sons' daughters, bring out with you 00:11:13.179 --> 00:11:16.480 every living thing that is with you, all flesh, 00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:21.080 birds and animals, and every creeping thing that 00:11:21.080 --> 00:11:25.840 creeps on the earth, so that they may abound 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:30.539 the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the 00:11:30.539 --> 00:11:34.970 earth. So Noah... went out with his sons and 00:11:34.970 --> 00:11:38.870 his wives and his sons' wives. And every animal, 00:11:39.009 --> 00:11:43.529 every creeping thing, every bird, everything 00:11:43.529 --> 00:11:48.289 that moves on the earth went out of the ark by 00:11:48.289 --> 00:11:56.309 families. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord 00:11:56.309 --> 00:12:01.960 and took of every clean animal, and of every 00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:05.120 clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:08.799 altar. And when the Lord smelled the pleasing 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:13.000 odor, the Lord said in his heart, I will never 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:16.059 again curse the ground because of humankind. 00:12:17.340 --> 00:12:21.139 For the inclination of the human heart is evil 00:12:21.139 --> 00:12:26.240 from youth. Nor will I ever again destroy every 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:31.220 living creature as I have done. As long as the 00:12:31.220 --> 00:12:35.480 earth endures, seed time and in harvest, cold 00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:39.820 and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall 00:12:39.820 --> 00:12:48.009 not cease. Then Noah built the altar. We've heard 00:12:48.009 --> 00:12:51.769 that music before, haven't we? Smoke rising from 00:12:51.769 --> 00:12:54.629 the stones, breath rising from the heart. The 00:12:54.629 --> 00:12:57.470 first scent God chooses to announce the future 00:12:57.470 --> 00:13:03.409 is not rainfall or thunder, it's worship. The 00:13:03.409 --> 00:13:06.610 Lord smells the offering and speaks a promise 00:13:06.610 --> 00:13:11.190 into his own heart. You don't need me to tell 00:13:11.190 --> 00:13:17.159 you what that means. God binds himself to memory. 00:13:17.539 --> 00:13:22.340 He ties the world's tomorrow to an altar's smoke 00:13:22.340 --> 00:13:27.159 today. The flood writes a line of judgment across 00:13:27.159 --> 00:13:31.600 the sky. The altar writes a line of grace through 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:35.879 God's heart. And before that bow ever shines, 00:13:36.279 --> 00:13:40.759 the covenant is already warming the air. The 00:13:40.759 --> 00:13:44.080 same spirit wind that hovered over the waters 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:48.480 in Genesis 1 is thick, drying judgment like the 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:53.179 morning dew. Creation is restarting, not because 00:13:53.179 --> 00:13:59.919 Noah was perfect, but because God decided to 00:13:59.919 --> 00:14:08.850 remember. I want you to notice something. The 00:14:08.850 --> 00:14:13.269 Bible doesn't actually tell us anything Noah 00:14:13.269 --> 00:14:18.529 said when he got off the ark. No victory shout. 00:14:19.509 --> 00:14:24.730 No kissing the ground. We made it, Lord. Just 00:14:24.730 --> 00:14:29.750 the sound of sandals sinking into soft, muddy 00:14:29.750 --> 00:14:37.580 earth. And maybe you know this feeling. When 00:14:37.580 --> 00:14:40.620 you've done everything God has asked and the 00:14:40.620 --> 00:14:43.960 silence afterward feels heavier than the storm 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:49.519 itself. The adrenaline's gone. The crisis is 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:59.080 over. And now you must live again. Noah stands 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:03.320 there. Time, real quick. This is me. This is 00:15:03.320 --> 00:15:06.669 poetic license. The words of Noah is not spoken, 00:15:06.809 --> 00:15:11.049 right? But let me, let us imagine, okay? I want 00:15:11.049 --> 00:15:13.090 to be crystal clear. I'm not, please don't hear 00:15:13.090 --> 00:15:14.970 me putting words in Noah's mouth. That's not 00:15:14.970 --> 00:15:19.090 there, okay? But imagine Noah standing there, 00:15:19.250 --> 00:15:25.190 blinking at a sky that no longer roars. Around 00:15:25.190 --> 00:15:29.669 him are eight people, one family, all with survivor 00:15:29.669 --> 00:15:33.669 eyes, half wonder, half worry. Every direction 00:15:33.669 --> 00:15:37.470 looks the same, wet ground, empty horizon, and 00:15:37.470 --> 00:15:41.990 the smell of animal musk soaked into their very 00:15:41.990 --> 00:15:49.509 beings. So I imagine maybe his son Shem saying, 00:15:49.809 --> 00:15:56.570 what do we do now, Dad? And Noah doesn't have 00:15:56.570 --> 00:16:01.960 an answer yet. He's obedient, yes. But obedience 00:16:01.960 --> 00:16:08.419 doesn't always come with clear closure. Friends, 00:16:08.419 --> 00:16:15.960 sometimes the ark stops, the rain stops, and 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:20.200 you still feel the waves moving inside of you. 00:16:20.980 --> 00:16:25.720 You know this truth, even when we don't like 00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:31.850 saying it. Faith sometimes... can get lonely 00:16:31.850 --> 00:16:40.809 after it works. Noah built the boat, preached 00:16:40.809 --> 00:16:49.149 the warning, rode the flood, and now he is staring 00:16:49.149 --> 00:16:54.429 at a blank world. And the hardest command of 00:16:54.429 --> 00:17:02.480 all comes next. Live again. And that, friends, 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:09.099 is where many of us saw out. We know how to pray 00:17:09.099 --> 00:17:16.880 in panic. How to seek God in crisis. How to row 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:23.299 through judgment. So often we struggle with simply 00:17:23.299 --> 00:17:32.720 breathing in peace. God remembered. Noah, scripture 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:41.779 says. But I think Noah is learning how to remember 00:17:41.779 --> 00:17:50.799 God. So what does he do? He starts gathering 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:57.769 up stones, not to build a new mansion. Not to 00:17:57.769 --> 00:18:03.269 fence a yard and keep other people out. To build 00:18:03.269 --> 00:18:12.009 an altar. Because, pro tip, that's what you do 00:18:12.009 --> 00:18:15.529 when you don't know what else to do. Worship. 00:18:17.410 --> 00:18:20.529 Let's watch him now. Slow, methodical, stacking 00:18:20.529 --> 00:18:24.769 route. upon rock. Each one leaves maybe a brown 00:18:24.769 --> 00:18:28.369 smear of mud on his hands. He's building on mud 00:18:28.369 --> 00:18:32.069 that hasn't even dried yet. There's no temple 00:18:32.069 --> 00:18:37.490 blueprint, no priestly robe, no choir, just a 00:18:37.490 --> 00:18:43.569 man, a handful of stones and gratitude thumping 00:18:43.569 --> 00:18:49.730 through him like a pulse. He's not saying thank 00:18:49.730 --> 00:18:53.890 you for sparing my life. He's saying thank you 00:18:53.890 --> 00:18:57.970 for remembering me. Friends, that is a vital 00:18:57.970 --> 00:19:03.829 distinction. That is the difference. Gratitude 00:19:03.829 --> 00:19:10.650 born of grace doesn't boast of survival. It bows 00:19:10.650 --> 00:19:16.900 low to mercy. The text then says that Noah offered 00:19:16.900 --> 00:19:21.259 of every clean animal and bird. Let us not skip 00:19:21.259 --> 00:19:27.420 past this. This isn't spare change. This is sacrificial 00:19:27.420 --> 00:19:33.059 generosity. After a flood that had wiped out 00:19:33.059 --> 00:19:38.660 the world, every living thing is precious, scarce, 00:19:38.859 --> 00:19:45.529 endangered. Yet, Noah gives the first and the 00:19:45.529 --> 00:19:50.990 best of it back to God. And if you're somewhere 00:19:50.990 --> 00:19:54.630 kind of down the road on your spiritual journey, 00:19:54.710 --> 00:19:57.569 you may know this. If you're just starting your 00:19:57.569 --> 00:20:01.049 spiritual journey, you will encounter this one 00:20:01.049 --> 00:20:04.609 day. If you've been down that road with Jesus 00:20:04.609 --> 00:20:07.549 for a while, you already know this to be true 00:20:07.549 --> 00:20:12.490 because you've been there. God saves you from 00:20:12.490 --> 00:20:18.609 something. And the first thing grace asks is, 00:20:18.829 --> 00:20:26.990 now, will you trust me with the rest? Most of 00:20:26.990 --> 00:20:30.829 us wait until the floodwaters are gone and the 00:20:30.829 --> 00:20:34.089 savings account is full before we offer our praise. 00:20:35.589 --> 00:20:40.170 Noah builds an altar while his sandals still 00:20:40.170 --> 00:20:47.690 squish. That is worship. Not performance. Not 00:20:47.690 --> 00:20:54.269 repayment. It is the first act of a new creation. 00:20:55.349 --> 00:21:01.490 And it smells like smoke and surrender. Now, 00:21:01.490 --> 00:21:05.720 my church friends, let us look closer. Genesis 00:21:05.720 --> 00:21:09.839 says, when the Lord smelled the pleasing odor, 00:21:09.940 --> 00:21:13.240 the Lord said in his heart, never again will 00:21:13.240 --> 00:21:18.380 I curse the ground because of humankind. What 00:21:18.380 --> 00:21:22.859 does that mean? That means God is moved, not 00:21:22.859 --> 00:21:29.039 by fear, not by threat, but by fragrance. He 00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:34.940 breathes in devotion and exhales covenant. The 00:21:34.940 --> 00:21:39.559 altar becomes a conversation between divine memory 00:21:39.559 --> 00:21:48.799 and our gratitude. Noah never says a word. The 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:55.200 smoke does all the talking. You know this. God 00:21:55.200 --> 00:22:03.940 still smells the smoke. your prayer won't form 00:22:03.940 --> 00:22:10.519 a sentence. When all you've got is a trembling, 00:22:10.599 --> 00:22:17.779 thank you, whispered over ashes, heaven hears 00:22:17.779 --> 00:22:23.920 it. Because the smell of mercy never really left 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:31.799 the air. It drifted from Ararat to Calvary. where 00:22:31.799 --> 00:22:36.619 another sacrifice rose, not of beasts, but of 00:22:36.619 --> 00:22:41.799 the sun. But we're not there yet. Right now, 00:22:41.799 --> 00:22:45.480 we are still standing with Noah, wet to the knees, 00:22:45.740 --> 00:22:50.319 holding faith like a torch in a world that forgot 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:57.019 what fire even was. And let's not romanticize 00:22:57.019 --> 00:23:01.480 him either. Noah's altar isn't a mountaintop 00:23:01.480 --> 00:23:07.539 Instagram moment. It's therapy. It's the first 00:23:07.539 --> 00:23:14.819 prayer after real trauma. It's a man trying to 00:23:14.819 --> 00:23:22.079 trust joy again. You ever try that? To believe 00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:27.240 that laughter won't jinx you? To smile after 00:23:27.240 --> 00:23:33.200 a loss and not flinch? That's Noah. He's grateful, 00:23:33.319 --> 00:23:38.000 yes, but he is haunted, too. Behind his worship, 00:23:38.180 --> 00:23:41.119 ghosts line up. Neighbors, cousins, old friends 00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:45.099 no longer there. Their faces blur in the rising 00:23:45.099 --> 00:23:51.039 smoke. He very painfully remembers what judgment 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:56.440 sounds like when it drowns the whole world. You 00:23:56.440 --> 00:23:59.980 know this ache because gratitude and grief can 00:23:59.980 --> 00:24:03.940 live in the same heart. The trick is letting 00:24:03.940 --> 00:24:10.240 gratitude lead the song. Noah does. He doesn't 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:15.700 run from the ache. He offers it. And that is 00:24:15.700 --> 00:24:21.220 why God calls the smell pleasing. Because, friends, 00:24:21.640 --> 00:24:31.720 true worship Isn't clean. But it is honest. We 00:24:31.720 --> 00:24:36.119 clean up for church. Noah brings mud. And heaven 00:24:36.119 --> 00:24:41.859 breathes deep. And I wonder if you caught that 00:24:41.859 --> 00:24:46.019 line earlier. God made a wind to pass over the 00:24:46.019 --> 00:24:51.240 earth. The Hebrew word there is ruach. Spirit. 00:24:51.500 --> 00:24:57.819 Breath. Same word. when God breathed into Adam. 00:24:59.059 --> 00:25:04.119 Same word that hovered over the waters in Genesis 00:25:04.119 --> 00:25:10.119 1. And maybe you can see it, creation 2 .0. Same 00:25:10.119 --> 00:25:17.940 elements, same breath, new grace. The spirit 00:25:17.940 --> 00:25:25.390 that birthed the world now dries its tears. And 00:25:25.390 --> 00:25:28.769 that wind doesn't just move water, it moves Noah's 00:25:28.769 --> 00:25:33.589 heart towards worship. The flood wasn't the last 00:25:33.589 --> 00:25:38.789 word, breath was. Friends, that's the gospel 00:25:38.789 --> 00:25:44.009 rhythm. Judgment gives way to wind, and wind 00:25:44.009 --> 00:25:47.390 gives way to worship, and it's always in that 00:25:47.390 --> 00:25:51.569 order. So maybe you've come through your own 00:25:51.569 --> 00:25:57.539 flood, addiction, divorce, grief, Burnout. And 00:25:57.539 --> 00:26:03.180 the ground underneath you still feels soft. And 00:26:03.180 --> 00:26:06.960 maybe you are just waiting for a sign that it's 00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:12.880 safe to start building again. Here is your sign. 00:26:14.519 --> 00:26:19.000 The spirit is already moving over your waters. 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:24.220 You can still build an altar in a world that's 00:26:24.220 --> 00:26:27.619 just learning to breathe again. And you know 00:26:27.619 --> 00:26:31.299 what? You can still say thank you before you 00:26:31.299 --> 00:26:40.259 see the rainbow. Now, maybe you are suspecting 00:26:40.259 --> 00:26:43.380 what is to come. Obedience always leads to overflow. 00:26:44.160 --> 00:26:46.640 Noah's faith built an ark when nobody needed 00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:49.759 one. His worship builds an altar when nobody 00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:55.960 asked for one. And heaven answers both. And notice 00:26:55.960 --> 00:27:01.980 how God responds, not with new marching orders, 00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:07.799 but with a promise. He doesn't command another 00:27:07.799 --> 00:27:12.579 sacrifice. Instead, he gives us a guarantee. 00:27:13.900 --> 00:27:17.480 As long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest, 00:27:17.539 --> 00:27:22.900 summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. 00:27:23.220 --> 00:27:27.319 That is covenant language before the rainbow 00:27:27.319 --> 00:27:31.720 ever appeared in the sky. The smoke rises and 00:27:31.720 --> 00:27:35.980 God rides stability back into creation. Seasons 00:27:35.980 --> 00:27:40.539 return. Rhythm resumes. Mercy becomes the metronome 00:27:40.539 --> 00:27:46.390 of the world. Grace doesn't just forgive. You 00:27:46.390 --> 00:27:52.710 know this. It also restores. It brings back the 00:27:52.710 --> 00:27:56.910 pattern you thought the storm erased. And that 00:27:56.910 --> 00:28:01.009 is what the altar does also. It retunes reality 00:28:01.009 --> 00:28:06.230 to mercy's frequency. So here's the question 00:28:06.230 --> 00:28:09.130 hanging in the steam between heaven and earth. 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:15.440 The world restarted today. What would you build 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:23.019 first? Another ark just in case? Or an altar 00:28:23.019 --> 00:28:25.900 to remember who carried you through the storm? 00:28:28.299 --> 00:28:32.920 Tragedy of our time isn't wickedness. It's amnesia. 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:37.240 We forget the flood as soon as that ground dries. 00:28:39.150 --> 00:28:43.809 And we think safety means we can stop thanking. 00:28:45.269 --> 00:28:49.750 And you know this one by heart. It is very easy 00:28:49.750 --> 00:28:54.190 to turn a miracle into entitlement. How fast 00:28:54.190 --> 00:28:57.950 we can trade thank you, Lord, into I deserve 00:28:57.950 --> 00:29:05.369 this. Noah's storm interrupts that reflex. The 00:29:05.369 --> 00:29:10.250 first act of new humanity. is gratitude, not 00:29:10.250 --> 00:29:13.710 governance, not technology, not architecture. 00:29:14.390 --> 00:29:19.430 Worship. So the next time your prayer feels small 00:29:19.430 --> 00:29:24.190 or your praise feels repetitive, remember, heaven 00:29:24.190 --> 00:29:26.970 once built the world because one man lit a fire 00:29:26.970 --> 00:29:30.630 and said thank you. That's not superstition. 00:29:30.670 --> 00:29:35.109 That's covenant maintenance. And maybe, just 00:29:35.109 --> 00:29:38.480 maybe, The reason your life hasn't capsized again 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:42.960 is that God still smells the same smoke in you. 00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:48.539 Now, I can't leave without talking about this 00:29:48.539 --> 00:29:54.339 rainbow. Clouds parting like a curtain God's 00:29:54.339 --> 00:29:56.240 pulling back to show what he's been hiding in 00:29:56.240 --> 00:30:00.819 the light. The last drops of rain still cling 00:30:00.819 --> 00:30:03.940 to the leaves and the air smells like rain's 00:30:03.940 --> 00:30:09.349 apology. And then, right there across the horizon, 00:30:09.690 --> 00:30:14.809 a half circle of fire and water appears, judgment 00:30:14.809 --> 00:30:19.789 into joy. God says, this is a sign of the covenant 00:30:19.789 --> 00:30:23.230 I make between me and you and every living creature. 00:30:23.849 --> 00:30:26.829 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it 00:30:26.829 --> 00:30:29.329 and remember the everlasting covenant. The Hebrew 00:30:29.329 --> 00:30:35.180 word for bow is keshet. Same word used for a 00:30:35.180 --> 00:30:39.519 weapon, bow and arrow, bow. So picture this. 00:30:41.160 --> 00:30:46.940 Imagine the Almighty hanging his war bow in the 00:30:46.940 --> 00:30:54.240 sky, string down, arrowless, aimed not at the 00:30:54.240 --> 00:31:00.339 earth, but at his own heart. It's what covenant 00:31:00.339 --> 00:31:04.700 looks like when it's colored in. Divine disarmament. 00:31:05.259 --> 00:31:09.539 The flood was God's grief spoken in water. The 00:31:09.539 --> 00:31:14.539 rainbow is his restraint, sung in light. The 00:31:14.539 --> 00:31:19.660 world still feels broken. He admits it plainly. 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:22.819 The inclination of the human heart is evil from 00:31:22.819 --> 00:31:27.680 youth. Yet, he promises never again to uncreate 00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:33.779 what he loves. Judgment steps aside. To let mercy 00:31:33.779 --> 00:31:39.460 drive. When God says, I will remember, he's not 00:31:39.460 --> 00:31:44.180 confessing his forgetfulness. He's pledging faithfulness. 00:31:45.619 --> 00:31:49.440 In Hebrew thought, to remember is to act according 00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:53.559 to a covenant. God's mercy is not nostalgia, 00:31:53.740 --> 00:31:58.960 it's motion. Each time sunlight and storm meet, 00:31:59.019 --> 00:32:05.380 he moves again towards mercy. So when that bow 00:32:05.380 --> 00:32:10.859 arcs overhead, it's not God reminding us. It's 00:32:10.859 --> 00:32:15.039 God reminding himself. We see the promise, but 00:32:15.039 --> 00:32:19.279 he feels it. Creation becomes his accountability 00:32:19.279 --> 00:32:23.880 partner. The rainbow is not sentimental decor. 00:32:24.599 --> 00:32:28.740 It's divine discipline. That's why it's curved 00:32:28.740 --> 00:32:31.420 outward and not inward. It shields the earth, 00:32:31.539 --> 00:32:35.839 not threatening it. The judge wears his reminder 00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:43.880 on his own horizon. Now, let me just close with 00:32:43.880 --> 00:32:46.559 these final thoughts. You already know what that 00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:52.019 bow costs. Because grace always costs someone 00:32:52.019 --> 00:32:56.960 something. In Noah's story, God lays down his 00:32:56.960 --> 00:33:01.680 weapon. In our stories, he lays down his son. 00:33:03.339 --> 00:33:10.319 The cross is the rainbow bent vertical. The same 00:33:10.319 --> 00:33:15.539 mercy that spanned the clouds now runs red down 00:33:15.539 --> 00:33:21.160 wood. And when Jesus cried, it is finished. Heaven 00:33:21.160 --> 00:33:25.460 is still pointing the arrow at its own heart. 00:33:27.819 --> 00:33:30.599 Though his family watches the rainbow and doesn't 00:33:30.599 --> 00:33:34.099 speak. Sometimes the holiest thing you can do 00:33:34.099 --> 00:33:37.799 is observe. Their faces are dirty, their clothes 00:33:37.799 --> 00:33:40.359 are torn, but the light touches them anyway. 00:33:41.480 --> 00:33:45.359 That's grace's favorite kind of skin, the weathered 00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:49.799 kind. God's voice still lingers. Be fruitful, 00:33:49.980 --> 00:33:55.819 multiply. Same words he spoke in Eden. The covenant 00:33:55.819 --> 00:33:59.720 isn't a new rule. It's a restart of relationship. 00:34:02.130 --> 00:34:06.269 God saying, let's try this again, but this time 00:34:06.269 --> 00:34:10.510 in mercy. And you know the rhythm. And for the 00:34:10.510 --> 00:34:13.010 next three weeks, we're going to see this pattern 00:34:13.010 --> 00:34:17.610 play out again. We re -break it and he remakes 00:34:17.610 --> 00:34:22.769 it. Next time you see one, don't just point and 00:34:22.769 --> 00:34:26.210 post it. Remember that you are looking at the 00:34:26.210 --> 00:34:32.969 world's very first sermon illustration. The rainbow's 00:34:32.969 --> 00:34:35.530 last appearance in Scripture, we actually find 00:34:35.530 --> 00:34:39.650 in Revelations 4 and 3. Around the throne was 00:34:39.650 --> 00:34:43.389 a rainbow that looked like an emerald. That means 00:34:43.389 --> 00:34:47.250 the covenant didn't fade, it graduated. The bow 00:34:47.250 --> 00:34:49.829 that once spanned judgment now crowns glory. 00:34:50.610 --> 00:34:53.889 So, if Genesis showed mercy stretched across 00:34:53.889 --> 00:34:58.159 the sky, Revelation shows mercy enthroned. The 00:34:58.159 --> 00:35:02.099 beginning and the end hum the same note. God 00:35:02.099 --> 00:35:07.500 remembers. So let's land this thing where we 00:35:07.500 --> 00:35:12.039 started, at an altar. Noah's fire still flickers. 00:35:12.159 --> 00:35:16.980 Seth's smoke still rises. Abel's cry still echoes. 00:35:18.659 --> 00:35:21.599 And the ground that once drank blood now grows 00:35:21.599 --> 00:35:26.719 bread again. East of Eden, the altar still smokes. 00:35:27.480 --> 00:35:30.300 West of the flood, the rainbow still shines. 00:35:30.940 --> 00:35:34.980 And between them, the spirit still blows where 00:35:34.980 --> 00:35:41.960 it will. Even through rain clouds. So if you're 00:35:41.960 --> 00:35:45.420 tired, if your prayers sound like dripping water, 00:35:45.559 --> 00:35:50.699 look up. The storm that tried to bury you has 00:35:50.699 --> 00:35:55.619 just painted your sky. And maybe, just maybe, 00:35:55.719 --> 00:36:02.019 friend, God is remembering you right now. Amen? 00:36:02.920 --> 00:36:12.719 Amen. You know, what is really fascinating to 00:36:12.719 --> 00:36:17.699 me about the Bible is sometimes you can really 00:36:17.699 --> 00:36:21.219 feel like you know the Bible, but until you actually 00:36:21.219 --> 00:36:25.949 put the pieces... Together, the stories together, 00:36:26.050 --> 00:36:30.349 and you stand back and look. Sometimes it's not 00:36:30.349 --> 00:36:34.929 until you do that, until you can see this beautiful 00:36:34.929 --> 00:36:40.670 picture. And maybe in these three stories of 00:36:40.670 --> 00:36:43.610 East of Eden, maybe that's what this whole story 00:36:43.610 --> 00:36:46.829 has been about right from the start. Not just 00:36:46.829 --> 00:36:51.610 survival, remembrance. God remembers Noah, and 00:36:51.610 --> 00:36:53.949 maybe that's the line we've been needing to hear 00:36:53.949 --> 00:36:57.110 all along. The storms come, the floods rise, 00:36:57.289 --> 00:37:01.110 the world changes shape, but God never forgets 00:37:01.110 --> 00:37:05.570 the one he's carried. So, if you've been standing 00:37:05.570 --> 00:37:08.710 in mud that still remembers judgment, if you've 00:37:08.710 --> 00:37:11.389 been wondering whether grace still smells like 00:37:11.389 --> 00:37:15.760 smoke, hear this. Same God who sent the wind 00:37:15.760 --> 00:37:18.739 to dry the waters, still breathing over your 00:37:18.739 --> 00:37:24.079 life. You can start again. You can build again. 00:37:24.199 --> 00:37:27.900 And you know what? You can worship right there. 00:37:28.739 --> 00:37:33.699 The dirt's still wet beneath your feet. And when 00:37:33.699 --> 00:37:36.820 the sky splits open and the light bends across 00:37:36.820 --> 00:37:40.760 it, you'll know it was never just about the rainbow. 00:37:41.690 --> 00:37:46.469 It's always about the remembering. Now, before 00:37:46.469 --> 00:37:49.070 you head out, I've got one last thing. We don't 00:37:49.070 --> 00:37:51.409 ask for money around here. This little digital 00:37:51.409 --> 00:37:56.030 church, it runs on witness, not wallets. But 00:37:56.030 --> 00:37:59.150 if something in today's message met you where 00:37:59.150 --> 00:38:02.210 you are, do me a favor. Hit that like button. 00:38:02.550 --> 00:38:04.710 Throw it in the offering plate like we used to 00:38:04.710 --> 00:38:09.909 do back home. And if you want to know when church 00:38:09.909 --> 00:38:13.130 meets again. hit that subscribe button. That 00:38:13.130 --> 00:38:15.750 way, you get a little tap on the shoulder that 00:38:15.750 --> 00:38:21.329 says, hey, it's Sunday again. Until then, be 00:38:21.329 --> 00:38:31.769 blessed. It's late to static summon. And if you 00:38:31.769 --> 00:38:34.409 ain't going to send your money to me, then just 00:38:34.409 --> 00:38:38.730 whisper that like into the plate. Every click's 00:38:38.730 --> 00:38:41.920 a candle in the dark. Telling heaven we're still 00:38:41.920 --> 00:38:46.280 here, still listening. So before you turn that 00:38:46.280 --> 00:38:50.559 dial, throw it in the plate.