WEBVTT 00:00:01.229 --> 00:00:05.849 The flood wasn't God's temper tantrum. The word 00:00:05.849 --> 00:00:12.050 is shakat. It means the world was rotten from 00:00:12.050 --> 00:00:17.589 the inside out. And God grieved at what he saw. 00:00:24.289 --> 00:00:27.469 Before the rain ever fell, the world was already 00:00:27.469 --> 00:00:31.230 breaking. Genesis says the earth had become corrupt, 00:00:31.489 --> 00:00:35.390 ruined from the inside out. Violence wasn't an 00:00:35.390 --> 00:00:38.649 interruption. It was the operating system. And 00:00:38.649 --> 00:00:42.210 into that noise, God spoke one man, not with 00:00:42.210 --> 00:00:47.689 thunder, with measurements, wood, pitch, box 00:00:47.689 --> 00:00:50.509 built for a storm no one else believed was coming. 00:00:50.590 --> 00:00:53.149 That's where we are in the story. Standing on 00:00:53.149 --> 00:00:56.350 dry ground, staring at a blueprint that doesn't 00:00:56.350 --> 00:01:00.619 explain. How to steer. And if you're joining 00:01:00.619 --> 00:01:02.679 us, you're right on time. Dinner's wrapped up 00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:05.000 here at Midweek Fellowship. Plates are stacked. 00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:07.920 Coffee's still warm. We had lasagna tonight, 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:11.180 and a good one, too. The kind that slows the 00:01:11.180 --> 00:01:14.180 room down. I'm the pastor here at this little 00:01:14.180 --> 00:01:16.760 church. My name's Pastor Jim, and now all the 00:01:16.760 --> 00:01:19.400 chairs are turned facing me. Our Bible's open, 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:22.500 and it's time to listen together. So, take a 00:01:22.500 --> 00:01:25.480 breath, settle in, and walk this text with us. 00:01:25.980 --> 00:01:33.920 I'll see you. On the other side. I was coming 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:38.340 down to the fellowship hall and I thought, oh, 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:42.540 I hope Wayne's feeling better because you weren't 00:01:42.540 --> 00:01:44.439 here on Sunday, right? Because I was like, how 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:47.000 am I going to start the Bible study if you're 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:49.700 not here to give me the thumbs up? So you're 00:01:49.700 --> 00:01:54.709 here. Thumbs up. Okay. I'm just, we're going 00:01:54.709 --> 00:01:58.250 to finish the holiday season. And now for a while, 00:01:58.290 --> 00:02:00.250 we're just going to kind of explore the Bible 00:02:00.250 --> 00:02:03.489 together and try to find things I think that 00:02:03.489 --> 00:02:06.409 you would think are interesting. And the way 00:02:06.409 --> 00:02:09.830 I like to do that is look at stories that you 00:02:09.830 --> 00:02:12.550 think you know pretty well, and then maybe show 00:02:12.550 --> 00:02:15.469 you just a different angle or a lens to look 00:02:15.469 --> 00:02:19.340 at it. And you might find something new. to discover. 00:02:19.639 --> 00:02:22.139 And that's what I'm going to do, I hope. And 00:02:22.139 --> 00:02:24.979 so let me start with tonight's story by setting 00:02:24.979 --> 00:02:29.520 the scene. The world before the flood is loud 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:33.860 with violence. And the book of Genesis doesn't 00:02:33.860 --> 00:02:38.120 soften it that earth is corrupt. The Hebrew word 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:43.939 is shekath. And it actually means ruined or spoiled 00:02:43.939 --> 00:02:49.800 or destroyed from the inside out. Humanity had 00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:53.639 spent generations building something, and they 00:02:53.639 --> 00:02:57.699 built a civilization that runs on exploitation. 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:02.659 The strong take what they want, the powerful 00:03:02.659 --> 00:03:07.520 consume the weak, and God looks at what has become 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:12.000 of creation and He grieves. This is important 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:15.400 for our study tonight to fully understand. The 00:03:15.400 --> 00:03:21.979 flood... is not arbitrary divine anger. God isn't 00:03:21.979 --> 00:03:25.479 throwing a temper tantrum. The text says that 00:03:25.479 --> 00:03:29.139 God's heart was grieved. The Hebrew suggests 00:03:29.139 --> 00:03:35.039 something closer to being wounded. The ache of 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:37.960 a parent watching a child choose destruction 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:42.580 and being unable to stop it. And in the middle 00:03:42.580 --> 00:03:45.400 of this ruined world, there's one family, one 00:03:45.400 --> 00:03:49.479 man who walked with God, not perfectly, not heroically, 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:54.539 just faithfully. A man whose name, Noach, means 00:03:54.539 --> 00:03:59.780 rest or comfort. And God speaks to him. But here's 00:03:59.780 --> 00:04:03.159 what we need to understand about this moment 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:08.500 in the story. Noah has no frame of reference 00:04:08.500 --> 00:04:12.379 about what is about to happen. or what God is 00:04:12.379 --> 00:04:16.639 asking. Look, we're Okies, right? We know what 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:20.480 it's like to have a dry spell of weather. Some 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:25.319 traditions argue that at this point in the story, 00:04:25.459 --> 00:04:30.579 rain hasn't even fallen yet. The earth was watered 00:04:30.579 --> 00:04:35.920 by mists and springs. Whether or not that's literal, 00:04:36.199 --> 00:04:41.730 the point stands. Noah is being asked to prepare 00:04:41.730 --> 00:04:47.730 for a catastrophe that has zero precedent. He's 00:04:47.730 --> 00:04:51.350 building a boat in a world that has never seen 00:04:51.350 --> 00:04:56.649 a flood before. That's the context. A man measuring 00:04:56.649 --> 00:05:00.389 lumber for a disaster no one else sees coming. 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:04.720 A man whose obedience looks like madness to everybody 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:07.879 who's watching him. A man who will spend decades 00:05:07.879 --> 00:05:11.959 constructing something enormous based on nothing 00:05:11.959 --> 00:05:16.779 but a voice and a promise. And that voice is 00:05:16.779 --> 00:05:22.879 very, very specific on how to build it. Picture 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:26.459 him at work. Not the cartoon version with the 00:05:26.459 --> 00:05:29.810 smiling beard and the... Giraffes poking over 00:05:29.810 --> 00:05:33.810 the railing. Picture the real Noah. A man standing 00:05:33.810 --> 00:05:37.790 in a field, looking at nothing but open sky, 00:05:38.209 --> 00:05:41.930 dry ground, and God starts talking measurements. 00:05:42.769 --> 00:05:46.449 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, 30 cubits high, 00:05:46.589 --> 00:05:51.949 three decks, one window, one door. Use this kind 00:05:51.949 --> 00:05:56.529 of wood. Coat it inside and out with this kind 00:05:56.529 --> 00:06:02.490 of pitch. Build it exactly like I am telling 00:06:02.490 --> 00:06:11.009 you to. Genesis slows way down here. The text 00:06:11.009 --> 00:06:16.829 lingers over specifications like a contractor 00:06:16.829 --> 00:06:19.910 who's been burned before and isn't leaving anything 00:06:19.910 --> 00:06:24.189 to chance this time. This is not vague spirituality. 00:06:24.329 --> 00:06:29.620 This is not... Follow your heart. This is craftsmanship 00:06:29.620 --> 00:06:33.959 obedience. Sawdust and sweat and the smell of 00:06:33.959 --> 00:06:38.100 pitch under your fingernails. And Noah builds 00:06:38.100 --> 00:06:42.579 exactly it the way God describes. Every cubit, 00:06:42.579 --> 00:06:46.759 every deck, every coat of sealant. Which makes 00:06:46.759 --> 00:06:52.160 what God doesn't describe all the more striking. 00:06:54.029 --> 00:06:57.709 Because when you read the blueprints carefully, 00:06:58.009 --> 00:07:02.709 when you actually look at what's there and what's 00:07:02.709 --> 00:07:06.329 missing, you'll notice something that changes 00:07:06.329 --> 00:07:13.589 everything. There's no rudder, no sails, no oars, 00:07:13.589 --> 00:07:21.360 no steering mechanism of any kind. The ark isn't 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:24.399 designed to go anywhere. It's just designed to 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:27.300 hold something. And that's not an oversight. 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:31.860 That's actually theology. So friends, tune your 00:07:31.860 --> 00:07:35.199 ears to the very first book of the Bible, Genesis, 00:07:35.259 --> 00:07:39.120 beginning in chapter 6, starting at verse 13. 00:07:39.399 --> 00:07:43.560 God's instructions for the ark. And God said 00:07:43.560 --> 00:07:45.680 to Noah, I have determined to make an end of 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:47.860 all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence 00:07:47.860 --> 00:07:50.879 because of them. Now I'm going to destroy them 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:54.800 along with the earth. Make yourself an ark of 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:58.019 cypress wood, rooms in the ark, and cover it 00:07:58.019 --> 00:08:01.939 inside and out with pitch. This is how you are 00:08:01.939 --> 00:08:04.639 to make it. The length of the ark shall be 300 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:08.439 cubits, its width 50 cubits, and its height 30 00:08:08.439 --> 00:08:12.569 cubits. Make a roof for the ark and finish it 00:08:12.569 --> 00:08:16.949 to a cubit above and put the door of the ark 00:08:16.949 --> 00:08:21.610 in its side. Make it with lower, second, and 00:08:21.610 --> 00:08:25.769 third decks. For my part, I am going to bring 00:08:25.769 --> 00:08:28.750 a flood of waters on the earth to destroy from 00:08:28.750 --> 00:08:32.429 under heaven all flesh in which is the breath 00:08:32.429 --> 00:08:37.330 of life. Everything that is on the earth shall 00:08:37.330 --> 00:08:41.350 die. But I will establish my covenant with you, 00:08:41.429 --> 00:08:44.350 and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, 00:08:44.409 --> 00:08:48.629 your wife, and your sons' wives. Now, let me 00:08:48.629 --> 00:08:52.750 leaf over to chapter 7, beginning verse 1. The 00:08:52.750 --> 00:08:56.309 Lord then said to Noah, Go into the ark and your 00:08:56.309 --> 00:08:59.470 whole family, because I have found you righteous 00:08:59.470 --> 00:09:03.570 in this generation. Take with you seven pairs 00:09:03.570 --> 00:09:06.789 of every clean animal, a male and its mate, one 00:09:06.789 --> 00:09:10.389 pair of every unclean animal, a male and its 00:09:10.389 --> 00:09:13.450 mate, and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, 00:09:13.610 --> 00:09:16.450 male and female, to keep the various kinds of 00:09:16.450 --> 00:09:19.830 life throughout the earth. Seven days from now 00:09:19.830 --> 00:09:22.169 I will send rain on the earth for forty days 00:09:22.169 --> 00:09:24.850 and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face 00:09:24.850 --> 00:09:28.190 of the earth every living creature I have made. 00:09:28.889 --> 00:09:35.399 Verse 5. And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:40.240 him. When the rain finally comes, it does not 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:43.700 ask Noah's permission. The waters rise, whether 00:09:43.700 --> 00:09:47.159 he's ready or not. And the ark lifts, not because 00:09:47.159 --> 00:09:50.779 Noah steered it somewhere, not because it caught 00:09:50.779 --> 00:09:53.799 the current just right, but because the waters 00:09:53.799 --> 00:09:58.480 themselves carried it. The ark drifts. It floats. 00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:02.899 It moves without any input from the man inside. 00:10:03.820 --> 00:10:06.480 And here's what I think we need to sit with. 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:11.379 Noah has no idea where he's going. He can't see 00:10:11.379 --> 00:10:16.080 the horizon. He can't chart a course. He can't 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:19.519 point the bow towards dry land because there's 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:25.220 no bow to point. There's just a box. A floating 00:10:25.220 --> 00:10:28.419 box full of everything that matters, drifting 00:10:28.419 --> 00:10:33.720 on a world that has been undone. And that's not 00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:41.120 a flaw in the design. That is the design. So 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:45.259 here is where we would lean in. The question 00:10:45.259 --> 00:10:48.039 isn't what can we learn from Noah's obedience 00:10:48.039 --> 00:10:52.799 or his patience. The question is bigger than 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:57.720 that. Questions should slow us down, make us 00:10:57.720 --> 00:11:01.220 set our coffee cups on the table, sit back in 00:11:01.220 --> 00:11:04.620 our chairs. Why does God keep designing rescue 00:11:04.620 --> 00:11:10.340 without giving us the wheel? Because once you 00:11:10.340 --> 00:11:13.639 see it in the ark, you see it everywhere. Let 00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:16.159 me show you what I'm talking about with some 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:20.220 examples from the Bible. The Exodus, the movement 00:11:20.220 --> 00:11:23.110 from Egypt to... Towards the promised land, God 00:11:23.110 --> 00:11:25.950 leads Israel out of Egypt with a pillar of cloud 00:11:25.950 --> 00:11:29.350 by day and fire by night. And what is Israel's 00:11:29.350 --> 00:11:34.929 job? To follow. Not to navigate. Not to scout 00:11:34.929 --> 00:11:39.129 ahead and choose the best route. To follow. The 00:11:39.129 --> 00:11:41.649 pillar moves, you move. The pillar stops, you 00:11:41.649 --> 00:11:44.769 stop. You don't get to vote on its direction. 00:11:45.350 --> 00:11:48.870 The wilderness. Forty years of manna bred from 00:11:48.870 --> 00:11:52.210 heaven, but only enough for today. You can't 00:11:52.210 --> 00:11:55.570 stockpile it. You can't steer your way towards 00:11:55.570 --> 00:11:59.250 security by hoarding it. You wake up tomorrow 00:11:59.250 --> 00:12:05.990 and trust it again. Or you don't. Jeremiah's 00:12:05.990 --> 00:12:08.870 potter. The clay on the wheel doesn't get to 00:12:08.870 --> 00:12:12.669 suggest its shape. It submits to the shaping 00:12:12.669 --> 00:12:18.850 hands, or it cracks. Even... Jesus, the Son, 00:12:18.850 --> 00:12:21.350 can do nothing by himself. He can only do what 00:12:21.350 --> 00:12:24.990 he sees the Father doing, the Word made flesh 00:12:24.990 --> 00:12:29.230 and still no rudder, still following, still trusting 00:12:29.230 --> 00:12:32.809 the current. The rudder's absence isn't a lesson 00:12:32.809 --> 00:12:37.330 about patience. It's a design feature of how 00:12:37.330 --> 00:12:41.490 God saves. And here's where this should start 00:12:41.490 --> 00:12:46.279 to press on us just a little bit, okay? We spend 00:12:46.279 --> 00:12:50.720 an enormous, enormous amount of energy trying 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:54.720 to install rudders on arcs that God built without 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:59.919 them. And we call it wisdom. Pardon me, we call 00:12:59.919 --> 00:13:03.259 it stewardship. We call it doing our part. We 00:13:03.259 --> 00:13:06.139 call it being responsible adults who don't just 00:13:06.139 --> 00:13:09.639 sit around waiting for the miracle. And there's 00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:13.070 something to be said for that. Scripture doesn't 00:13:13.070 --> 00:13:19.649 call us to passivity. Noah did build the ark. 00:13:19.710 --> 00:13:23.110 He didn't just pray and hope the ark would appear. 00:13:23.809 --> 00:13:26.929 But here's the distinction the text is making. 00:13:27.769 --> 00:13:33.389 God is exacting about his instructions. God is 00:13:33.389 --> 00:13:40.139 silent about direction. God cares very much about 00:13:40.139 --> 00:13:45.919 how Noah obeys. God does not give Noah any control 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:53.460 over where that obedience ends up leading. And 00:13:53.460 --> 00:13:59.240 we hate that. We want faith to come with a steering 00:13:59.240 --> 00:14:03.980 wheel. We want our prayers to function like a 00:14:03.980 --> 00:14:10.240 compass. Pardon. We want our obedience to purchase 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:13.559 at least a little bit of control over the outcome. 00:14:14.840 --> 00:14:18.179 Build the thing right. You should at least get 00:14:18.179 --> 00:14:23.220 to drive it. That's the deal we want to make. 00:14:23.340 --> 00:14:28.059 But the ark doesn't have a rudder. And maybe 00:14:28.059 --> 00:14:30.720 the frustration you're carrying right now, the 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:34.879 confusion, the sense of drifting, desperate wish 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:37.809 you could just see where this is headed, maybe 00:14:37.809 --> 00:14:42.529 that's not a sign something's wrong. Maybe that's 00:14:42.529 --> 00:14:45.629 a sign you're doing exactly what the blueprints 00:14:45.629 --> 00:14:52.789 say to do. Inside a vessel God designed to float, 00:14:52.909 --> 00:14:57.549 not to steer. So let's stay with the text for 00:14:57.549 --> 00:15:00.190 a moment because I think the details here actually 00:15:00.190 --> 00:15:03.210 deepen this. God tells Noah, this is cool to 00:15:03.210 --> 00:15:06.370 me, I think, but I'm a nerd about it. God tells 00:15:06.370 --> 00:15:09.909 Noah to cover the ark inside and out with pitch, 00:15:10.129 --> 00:15:17.289 par. The Hebrew word is kafar. And what's interesting 00:15:17.289 --> 00:15:23.610 is kafar is very close to the same word that 00:15:23.610 --> 00:15:27.570 becomes the word atonement. The Hebrew roots 00:15:27.570 --> 00:15:32.690 of those words are the same one. The covering. 00:15:33.720 --> 00:15:38.820 That waterproofs the ark is almost exactly the 00:15:38.820 --> 00:15:42.480 same word for the covering that reconciles sin. 00:15:43.559 --> 00:15:48.379 The ark is atoned before anyone ever gets on 00:15:48.379 --> 00:15:52.980 board. Grace seals it shut before the rain ever 00:15:52.980 --> 00:15:57.440 starts. Another detail I think is super interesting, 00:15:57.620 --> 00:16:04.450 the window. One window, all ark. It's one cubit 00:16:04.450 --> 00:16:07.389 by one cubit. And this is very deep and wide. 00:16:07.470 --> 00:16:09.769 We were talking about earlier, but right. Imagine 00:16:09.769 --> 00:16:14.909 18 inches, 18 inches, 300 cubits long. This is 00:16:14.909 --> 00:16:18.190 all you got. And the window is pointing upward, 00:16:18.289 --> 00:16:23.070 not towards the horizon. So what that means, 00:16:23.309 --> 00:16:28.090 you can see up. You can see towards heaven. You 00:16:28.090 --> 00:16:31.659 cannot see where you're going. The architecture 00:16:31.659 --> 00:16:36.299 of the ark limits your vision in one direction, 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:42.379 the only one that counts. And then there is a 00:16:42.379 --> 00:16:46.620 line that stops me every time I read this section. 00:16:49.100 --> 00:16:56.379 And the Lord shut him in. Genesis 7, 16. Noah 00:16:56.379 --> 00:17:00.620 doesn't close the door by himself. He doesn't 00:17:00.620 --> 00:17:04.180 get to decide when the grace window closes. He 00:17:04.180 --> 00:17:08.980 builds, God seals, he obeys, God completes. The 00:17:08.980 --> 00:17:12.559 salvation isn't finished until God shuts the 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:17.819 door from the outside. And then, after the waters 00:17:17.819 --> 00:17:21.000 rise and the world drowns and the ark floats 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:25.400 for what must have felt like forever, there's 00:17:25.400 --> 00:17:32.079 this. But then God remembered Noah. Not Noah 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:36.299 remembered God. Not Noah finally figured it out. 00:17:36.779 --> 00:17:44.299 Not Noah navigated his way to safety. God remembered 00:17:44.299 --> 00:17:51.579 Noah. Grace moves first, always. The ark lands 00:17:51.579 --> 00:17:55.839 on Ararat, not because Noah had aimed for it. 00:17:56.380 --> 00:17:58.900 Because that's where the waters had carried him. 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:03.039 That's where God's remembering set him down. 00:18:04.059 --> 00:18:09.640 The destination was never Noah's to choose. So 00:18:09.640 --> 00:18:13.660 here's where this hopeful hope comes home. Here's 00:18:13.660 --> 00:18:17.720 where the text stops being ancient and starts 00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:22.460 being Wednesday night. Some of us are exhausted 00:18:22.460 --> 00:18:25.880 right now. Not because you've been disobedient, 00:18:25.880 --> 00:18:28.400 but because you've been trying to steer something 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:34.079 God never gave you a rudder for. You built what 00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:36.920 you were asked to build, a marriage, personal 00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:41.019 ministry, a habit of faithfulness, a life shaped 00:18:41.019 --> 00:18:45.299 by showing up when you didn't feel like it. You 00:18:45.299 --> 00:18:50.130 did the craftsmanship obedience. You measured 00:18:50.130 --> 00:18:52.730 and you cut and you coded the whole thing in 00:18:52.730 --> 00:18:59.450 pitch. And now you're floating. And you can't 00:18:59.450 --> 00:19:04.309 see where you're going. There's something the 00:19:04.309 --> 00:19:07.130 text tells us that we need to hear. Grace floats. 00:19:07.589 --> 00:19:14.490 It doesn't steer. It carries. It holds. It drifts 00:19:14.490 --> 00:19:18.950 towards destinations we didn't choose. couldn't 00:19:18.950 --> 00:19:23.309 have found on our own. And floating feels like 00:19:23.309 --> 00:19:27.269 failure to people who are used to steering the 00:19:27.269 --> 00:19:32.509 boat. But maybe the hardest obedience isn't in 00:19:32.509 --> 00:19:36.329 the building. Maybe the hardest obedience is 00:19:36.329 --> 00:19:40.289 staying inside the thing you built and trusting 00:19:40.289 --> 00:19:44.720 the waters to take you where they will. Not rushing, 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:47.640 not jumping ship, not tearing holes in the hole, 00:19:47.819 --> 00:19:53.059 just to feel useful. Just staying, floating, 00:19:53.319 --> 00:19:57.519 trusting that God remembers even when you can't 00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:01.579 see dry land. Even when the window only shows 00:20:01.579 --> 00:20:05.799 sky. Even when you've been on the water so long, 00:20:05.940 --> 00:20:09.519 you have forgot what solid ground even felt like. 00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:14.990 The ark. was meant to be more than anything, 00:20:15.130 --> 00:20:20.690 friends, sufficient. And God doesn't ask Noah 00:20:20.690 --> 00:20:24.569 to guide the future. God asks Noah to survive 00:20:24.569 --> 00:20:29.150 it. That's not small faith. That's a whole testimony. 00:20:30.849 --> 00:20:37.549 So, before we go, one question. This isn't something 00:20:37.549 --> 00:20:39.970 you answer out loud. This you need to answer 00:20:39.970 --> 00:20:43.269 in your heart before you ever begin. Saying it 00:20:43.269 --> 00:20:47.109 out loud, what rudder have you been reaching 00:20:47.109 --> 00:20:53.950 for in your life that God never installed? And 00:20:53.950 --> 00:20:57.009 go from this place knowing that if you're floating, 00:20:57.170 --> 00:21:01.190 you're not failing. And if you can't see where 00:21:01.190 --> 00:21:04.150 you're headed, you're in good biblical company. 00:21:05.069 --> 00:21:07.950 If all you can do is stay inside the thing God 00:21:07.950 --> 00:21:11.700 keeps you inside of, and trust him with the destination, 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:15.359 that might be the truest obedience you have to 00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:20.460 offer. The ark doesn't need a rudder, and it 00:21:20.460 --> 00:21:24.339 never did. It needs patience and presence and 00:21:24.339 --> 00:21:28.519 a God who remembers. And that God who was fateful 00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:32.960 in the chaos once is still fateful now. So may 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:36.079 the waters carry you where you need to go. May 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:38.359 you find the courage to let go of wheels that 00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:42.619 were never installed. And may grace, stubborn, 00:21:42.920 --> 00:21:47.200 drifting, unhurried grace, bring you to wherever 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:59.500 you call home. Amen. Amen. Thanks, guys. Hey, 00:21:59.599 --> 00:22:02.500 before you go, let's just sit with what we've 00:22:02.500 --> 00:22:05.849 heard. Some of you are floating right now, not 00:22:05.849 --> 00:22:09.130 because you're careless, not because you've failed, 00:22:09.390 --> 00:22:12.470 but because you've been faithful. And faithfulness 00:22:12.470 --> 00:22:15.150 doesn't always come with direction. You built 00:22:15.150 --> 00:22:18.490 what God asked you to build. You showed up. You 00:22:18.490 --> 00:22:21.869 measured twice. You sealed the seams. And now 00:22:21.869 --> 00:22:24.890 the waters are carrying you somewhere you didn't 00:22:24.890 --> 00:22:29.930 choose and can't yet see. And if that unsettled 00:22:29.930 --> 00:22:33.420 you a little bit, that's okay. Scripture is allowed 00:22:33.420 --> 00:22:36.759 to do that. Conviction doesn't always arrive 00:22:36.759 --> 00:22:40.759 at correction. Sometimes it arrives as relief. 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:44.640 The relief of realizing you don't have to install 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:48.019 a rudder God never designed. And if something 00:22:48.019 --> 00:22:51.680 tonight stirred in you, if a line landed, if 00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:54.940 a thought surprised you, a scripture maybe even 00:22:54.940 --> 00:22:58.500 opened up in a new way you'd never seen it before. 00:22:58.680 --> 00:23:00.859 Consider tossing a like in the offering plate 00:23:00.859 --> 00:23:03.980 the way we used to pass it down the row. No pressure, 00:23:04.059 --> 00:23:07.500 just presence. And if you want to stay with us, 00:23:07.559 --> 00:23:10.200 walk into the new year as a part of this little 00:23:10.200 --> 00:23:13.259 congregation, you're welcome to tithe your subscribe. 00:23:13.859 --> 00:23:16.619 Not because we need numbers, but because belonging 00:23:16.619 --> 00:23:20.690 matters. However you came in tonight, may you 00:23:20.690 --> 00:23:24.509 leave. Knowing this, grace holds, God remembers, 00:23:24.630 --> 00:23:28.970 and you are not alone on the water. As always, 00:23:29.210 --> 00:23:30.529 be blessed.