Noah's Ark

Source SM Recap: Volume #44

OldSchoolScreen(FB)Series: Old SchoolTitle: “Noah's Ark” The Word: Genesis 6:8-22, Genesis 7:1-16, Genesis 8:20-22 Main Thought: Obedience to God pays off

Message Explanation: So far, we've covered the basics: God created everything, and our sin messed up God’s perfect plan in the Garden of Eden. Ever since Adam and Eve first ate the forbidden fruit, life went downhill. Noah pleased God and found favor because he loved and obeyed God with his whole heart. As a result, Noah's life was an example to his entire generation.

Why was God’s heart broken?

- God sees the wickedness of man on the earth (v.5) - Their actions and thoughts were evil

How big was the ark?

- 450 feet long, 45 feet high, and 75 feet wide. Volume of space was 1.4 million cubic feet.

Researchers have shown that this is the equivalent volume of 522 standard railroad stock cars (US), each of which can hold 240 sheep. By the way, only 11% of all land animals are larger than a sheep.

Noah spend 120 years building the ark. How much patience and obedience does it take to build a boat this big?!

Noah lived a lot longer than we do (950 years). People Lived HOW Long? You may remember from the first week that people were not designed to die; rather death was a result of sin. Today, the average life expectancy in the United States is estimated to be 78.11 years.

How did Noah respond to God?

1.    Noah was favored by God (v.8)

  “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” 

 2. Noah walked with God (v.9)

  “…Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.”

- Righteous: Good relationships with his neighbors - Blameless: Jesus called this “pure in heart.” (Matthew 5) - Noah had an intimate relationship with God

 A covenant relationship with God (v.18)

   “But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your son’s wives with you.”

3. Noah was committed to obeying God (v.22)

 Key verses:

 “Noah did this; he did all that God had commanded him.” Genesis 6:22

“So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him.” Genesis 7:5

 Obedience to God pays off. What areas of life can you begin to obey with relentless passion? 

Element of Fun: The high school students played the game, "Lamentations or Taylor Swift Lyric." It was funny to see if they knew the difference between the two!

Music: Sweetness of Freedom, Holy Spirit Oceans, Oh God (closing).

Favorite Moment: Talking to two students who received Christ! In the past week and a half, we have seen 9 students come to Christ!

What’s Next: We are continuing the series, "Old School" as we talk about the big stories of the Old Testament!

To watch any of the series messages, check out the vimeo page

Noah's Ark discovered?

noahs-ark-national-park-10-km-from-ararat1.jpg

I am intrigued at hearing the news about a group of Chinese and Turkish evangelicals claiming they found Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat. It has always been one of my favorite stories in the Bible and I get excited about the discovery of the Ark. The skeptics are always pushing to debunk Scripture but I know that God's Word stands the test of time and is true 100%. Of course, this finding could come up as a hoax, but it is fun to find out about this discovery! My only skepticism towards how they are explaining the findings is by basing it upon carbon dating. Carbon dating is flawed in its very makeup and application to fossils. Although, the people are claiming the relics are around 4,800 years old (accurate to the biblical time-line of Noah's Ark). The biblical account explains that it landed on Mount Ararat (13,000 feet). Finding a boat at 13,000 feet sounds absurd to any skeptic! It only explains one thing. God flooded the earth and Noah's Ark was the salvation vessel for Noah and his family and the animals. Once again, if this claim comes to validity, what will skeptics say now? "Mount Ararat used to be only 100 feet high..." Another fact is that this finding will prove the liberal philosophers wrong due to their description of the "great flood" as a regional flood that only covered certain parts of land.

Answers in Genesis is one of the greatest ministries out there on archaeology and apologetics. See HERE on their response to the findings

"Here is a quote from team member Panda Lee described visiting the site.

In October 2008, I climbed the mountain with the Turkish team. At an elevation of more than 4,000 meters, I saw a structure built with plank-like timber. Each plank was about 8 inches wide. I could see tenons, proof of ancient construction predating the use of metal nails." We walked about 100 meters to another site. I could see broken wood fragments embedded in a glacier, and some 20 meters long. I surveyed the landscape and found that the wooden structure was permanently covered by ice and volcanic rocks."

Another interesting claim by Ark Discovery International in 1987  of finding the Ark was announced and declared a National Treasure by the Turkish government. If this new claim comes true, there will be some explaining to do!

We will see the final analysis I'm sure in the next few months. It is interesting news!