March 5, 2023 / Finding God in Chaos / Finding God in the Dark

Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest

questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search

and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Metter, lead pastor

of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth for the

life we're searching for. We are so glad that you're with us this morning and if you have your

Bibles, please take them and turn to Genesis chapter 8, Finding God in the Dark. So some of

Genesis 8 · chapter mention

you, that's when we began this Genesis series that we called Origins way back when. This was

back in the fall and how many of you remember walking through Genesis 1, 2, 3, and 4 together?

And what a journey it's been as we've walked through the first eight chapters, at least

we will have today, and we'll be concluding through chapter 11 in these next couple of

three weeks. This series is called Finding God in Chaos because we really do live in

a world filled with chaos, just like the world all those years ago was in chaos. You know,

before we read the scripture today, I want you to come imagine for just a moment if you

will being in Noah's shoes. Imagine being in an ark filled with eight people and thousands

of animals for more than a year's time, 370 days that are in this ark. I want you to imagine

how dark it is with the rain that is constant the first 40 days and imagine how damp it

is in that ark. Imagine what it smells like in that ark. Imagine what it must feel like

to wonder after you've heard the cries of those that have died in judgment and in the

silence of the seas that are there. Imagine what that must have felt like. In chapter

7, verse 23, the scripture says that only Noah was left along with those that were with

him. So a year into the journey, the rains have stopped and you wonder will we hear from

God again, ever? Does God know who we are? Does God, is He able to give us the next steps

that we need in life? All those questions could have been happening in Noah's life and

chapter 8 begins to address some of those. Let's stand together as I read chapter 8,

the first 14 verses of the book of Genesis. But God remembered Noah and all the beasts

and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. And God caused a wind to pass over the

earth and the water subsided. Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky

were closed and the rain from the sky was restrained and the water receded steadily

from the earth. And at the end of 150 days the water decreased. In the seventh month,

on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat. The water

decreased steadily until the tenth month. And the tenth month, on the first day of the

month, the tops of the mountains became visible. Then it came about at the end of 40 days that

Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made and sent out a raven and it flew

here and there until the water was dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove from

him to see if the water was abated from the face of the land. But the dove found no resting

place for the sole of her foot so she returned to him into the ark for the ark was on the

surface of all the earth. The water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put

out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark to himself. So he waited yet

another seven days and again he sent out the dove from the ark. The dove came towards him

towards evening and behold in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew

that the water was abated from the earth. Then he waited yet another seven days and

sent out the dove but she did not return to him. Now it came about in the 601st year,

the first month, the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth and Noah

removed the covering of the ark and looked and behold the surface of the ground was dried

up. In the second month, on the 27th day of the month, the earth was dry. So those 14

days describe the length of time, 370 days and the abating of the waters and now the

ark is about to be opened. It's a climactic moment in human history that we all come from

in reality. Father in Jesus' name my prayer is that you'll let this text speak to us in

a powerful but at the same time personal way. In the same way you are personal with Noah.

You want to be personal with each one of us and we ask you to make it so today in Jesus'

name. In our God's people's name. Amen. Please be seated if you would. Now I'm going to cover

some sensational events here in Genesis chapter 8. In fact the earth as we know it today,

Genesis 8 · chapter mention

we know it because of what happened in Genesis chapter 8. The pre-flood earth was different

Genesis 8 · chapter mention

from the post-flood earth in many different ways. Genesis 8 details that. But in spite

of all the sensational things that we'll look at as we walk through Genesis 8, there's

something even more important that I want you to carry away with you. Whenever God is

at work in nature, whenever he's at work in his powerful intervention into nature, the

most climactic things that we read in the passage is what God does and what God says

to the people. And what God does and what God says to Noah and his family, God also

does and God also says in your life. Every passage that you study you should ask the

question what does this tell me about God? Not just what does it say about the earth

or what does it say about creation or the flood or the animals, but what does this say

about God and what does it say about how God interacts with me? As we walk through this

text the most dominant things that come to the surface in chapter 8 are the places in

the scripture that talk about what God does. And those four points I'm going to give you

today that focused on what God does. First of all in verse 1 you can see it very easily.

The Bible says God remembered. God remembered. Look at verse 1. But God remembered Noah and

all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. Now when I read these

accounts and I do some background studies to everything we know about the ark, I mean

it's just amazing. It's mesmerizing to me. These are incredible things that God has done.

And getting Noah to build the ark and having that ark house Noah, his family and all these

animals to have it lift up above the floods of judgment and the floods of the waters.

And all kinds of questions come into my mind like how did Noah finish the ark? How did

the animals migrate to the ark? How did God do that? How did he arrange that? Though the

water was plentiful, how did they deal with all the food needs and the waste needs? I

want to know what did they do with their waste needs on that ark? And how did they wait patiently

for God to move the way he was moving this whole long year? But this piece right here,

God remembers, strikes me as a great, great statement. Because we all know this, God did

not forget Noah and his family. But here is a particular emphasis. God remembered the

phrase itself as a benevolent phrase. It's a tender phrase. It's a phrase that has a

great deal of love behind it. It means that God has his eyes focused on Noah and Noah

is endeared towards God. And God loves him with a purpose and God gifts him with a purpose

and has given him grace with a purpose. God remembered them, Noah and his family. We know

that there was only one family on the earth at that point, right? And it was Noah. It's

not like Papa's going to forget Noah. It's not like he was going to get him confused

with anybody else on the planet at that time. So there's only one family and God is thinking

clearly about how he's going to bless them. And it comes just as the ark is about to open,

just as he's about to be allowed to walk on that freshly cleansed planet. Okay, I'm being

told we're going to switch microphones on now, okay? From this point on, the message

will get much better now. Well, I don't know how much you picked up, but let me just start

at the first point there, alright? It's amazing that God remembers Noah. That's really the

point of this whole first verse that God remembers him. He's about to move in his life. And even

though there's only one family, God has focused on him in a powerful, powerful way. And I

also want you to realize this, that the third 370 days on the earth, or rather in the ark,

is really a time of waiting for Noah. It's really a time when he wonders, will I ever

hear God's voice again? I've heard the voices of people crying out around this boat as they

drown. I hear the sounds of the cattle and all the animals inside the boat, but will

I ever hear the voice of God again? Of course, the answer is going to be yes, God will speak

again. But until then, Noah is waiting for God and God is remembering Noah. And again,

it's just before the ark's door is opened and Noah begins to walk into this freshly

cleaned earth. I just want you to pick up for just a moment that phrase and I want you

to be reminded that no matter what kind of situation you're in in life, God will remember

you just like he remembers Noah. Even in the dark times, even in the times that are not

comfortable, times when judgment is going on around you, even in times like the flood

or lonely times or difficult times, confusing times, trials, frustrations, everything else

that was going on, inside of that ark, God is reminding us that he always remembers his

people and that's going to be helpful to you one day. The same way that God remembered

Noah, he remembers you. You know, I want to make this statement because it's so important.

Sometimes the wait is long, but God will always remember you. How many of you have been through

long waiting periods in your life just wondering if God was ever going to come through or not?

Would you raise your hand? And you just wonder, God, do you know where I am? Do you know what's

going on around me? Do you know how difficult this is? Do you realize how hard this is for

me and those around me? But I want you to be remembering the fact that God has not forgotten

you. I want you to know that God will remember you. When you look for God, remember that

he has known where you are all along. God remembered. But the second line is in that

same verse. It says, and God caused the wind to pass over the earth and the water subsided.

Now this to me is a fascinating scene because there is a lot of water on the planet at this

point. The water has come out of the fountains underneath the earth, it's come out of the

skies as God's allowed all this water to take place. There's so much water. Even today,

do you realize if the earth was flattened, if the surface of the earth was flattened,

no valleys, no mountains, the water that exists on the planet today would cover the earth

two miles deep. Do you realize that there's 71% of the earth's surface right now is covered

in water? It's hard for us to fathom that, but the water was great on the surface of

the earth during those days. And now God is going to cause this wind blow and it's going

to dissipate the water creating all kinds of amazing things that result in our present

planet earth. In the first 15 verses of Genesis chapter 8, you see the subsiding of the water.

Genesis 8 · chapter mention

And in verses 2 and 3, it's summarized. Look at what that verse says. It says, and also

the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed and the rain from the

sky was restrained. This whole sentence starts with God caused. So God closes the fountains

of the deep. God causes the floodgates of the sky to be closed and the rain itself was

restrained. And then it says, and the water receded steadily from the earth. Now let's

get a timeline of what's going on here. This is important as well. As you read through

verse 3, all the way through verse 14 or 15, you can see those days begin to add up. Verse

3 tells us at the end of 150 days, the water was decreased. Verse 5 adds 74 days. Verse

6 adds another 40 days. Then from verses 6 through 12, if you're looking at your Bible,

another 21 days. And then in verse 13, another 29 days. And finally in verse 14, 56 more

days are detailed. And if you added all those up, you have 370 days that Noah and his family

are in the ark. Now watch what happens here. The Lord is forcefully moving all this water

across the surface of the earth. And as He does so, He creates massive canyons and huge

mountains that we know today. Now we know that they were mountains that existed in the

pre-flood world, but this movement creates even deeper canyons and even higher mountains

as God moves all this water towards what we know today as the oceans and the seas. God

is causing the earth to be moved into the present condition as it is. And while this

takes place, think about what's happening in the water. Billions of people have died,

along with billions upon billions of animals have died in the flood. And as these animals

and their remains are flowing in this water, their remains are embedded into the strata

of the soil and the rock at every level. Did you know that scientists have actually found

marine fossils in the Himalayan mountains? Did you know that? And did you know that you

can find some fish fossils on Mount Everest? Scientists struggle to explain how those fossils

that are marine fossils ended up on the top of mountains. And the very simple explanation

is read the Bible. It took place during the great flood of Noah's day. In fact, the

Bible actually goes so far as to describe this in Psalm 104. Here's what the psalmist

declared. He said, you covered it with the deep as with a garment. The waters were standing

above the mountains as your rebuke they fled. At the sound of your thunder they hurried

away. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place where you established them.

That actually explains how the earth came to be in its present form. God rearranged

it all with these waters and causing those waters to move so that we see the beauty today

that we have today because of the result of that flood. By the way, have you looked at

the earth lately and seen how beautiful it is? Have you seen the majestic mountain peaks

like Mount Denali in Alaska? And remember that God caused it to be that way? I remember

seeing that for the first time. A hundred and fifty miles away from Mount Denali in

Alaska and saying, I cannot believe a mountain's that big, that massive, that beautiful. Well,

have you been to the Grand Canyons? And have you noticed how deep they are and how wide

they are? And remember that God caused this when He caused the waters to abate during

the time of the flood. Or look at the fields of harvest and look at the deserts and remember

God caused this. Or look at the mountain valleys or the river valleys and the sloping mountains

like in the state of Tennessee where I used to live. What a beautiful picture. And thank

God it caused this. Or you look at the depth of the ocean and you realize just how deep

the sea is and realize God caused this. I mean everything God does, even in judgment,

brings about something greater than it ever could have been before. God caused all these

things to happen. What an amazing picture. I mean when I look at the world, I see God

everywhere. There's a great song we've sung in years past and still sing and it goes something

like this, Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have

made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, thy power throughout the universe

displays, then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee. How great thou art. How great thou

art. When you look at the world, you think about Genesis 1 and 2, but when you look at

the world, you look at Genesis chapter 8 as well because the world in its present condition

Genesis 8 · chapter mention

has been created through God's work through the flood. So now Noah is about to open the

door and repopulate the earth. By the way, before we move more into Noah's life and

what he did, let me just remind you that not everybody in the world believes in a great

flood. I think you're aware that many have tried to explain the earth and the world and

its existence by natural explanation apart from God. And they try to make it seem as

though the earth came about, the Grand Canyon, the mountains, the fossils over millions and

millions and even billions of years. And they'll spend every waking moment trying to prove

it from natural causes because they don't want God to be in the picture. That's the

reason why all these other explanations exist. But even in Bible times, the apostle Peter

said that will happen. People will mock. As a matter of fact, in 2 Peter chapter 3, you

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

find this passage, the mockers are saying, where is the promise of his coming? For ever

since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.

And then Peter says, for when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the

word of God, the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of the water

and by water through which the world at that time was destroyed by being flooded with water.

So keep in mind, you live around a world and in a world that tries to explain everything

naturally and fails to be able to do that. We can't even explain what happened the last

two or three years ago, much less the last two or three hundred thousand years ago. It's

really important for us to come to the place of saying, maybe someone has the answer and

maybe someone is God. And that God gives us that answer in the Bible. As again, atheists

try to explain away the flood. They also try to explain away the many other miracles, Moses

in the parting of the Red Sea or Jonah in the whale or even trying to explain away Jesus

and the resurrection of the dead. And all of it again is trying to deny the existence

of a creator God. And what's really disturbing to me is that many Christians will buy into

those explanations, not realizing that it is eroding at their faith, as eroding their

trust and confidence in Jesus Christ. What if I told you that Jesus had an opinion about

the flood? What if I told you that Jesus had an opinion about creation, about marriage,

about Jonah in the whale? Would you try to align yourself on the other side of that argument

or are you going to stand on Jesus' side? My opinion is that when you disagree with

Jesus, He'll win every time. Amen? This is Jesus, God the Son, who was an eyewitness

to all of creation and all that took place. You remember when God asked Job in the book

of Job, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Of course, He says that because

only God was there, Jesus was there, and Jesus has a word. In John chapter 3, Jesus is having

John 3 · chapter mention

an interaction with Nicodemus. And He says this to Nicodemus. He said, if I tell you

earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you of heavenly

things? Just keep in mind, Jesus affirmed creation. Jesus affirmed biblical marriage.

Jesus affirmed Noah and the flood. Jesus affirmed Jonah and the whale. And in the telling of

the story of the rich man in Lazarus, Jesus made this statement. He said, if they do not

listen to Moses, that is the author of the first five books of the Bible, if they don't

listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from

the dead. You know what my encouragement to you today is? Come to trust Jesus Christ,

the Word made flesh. Come to believe the Bible and cast your confidence on the Word of God.

Because that gives us the greatest explanation, by the greatest eyewitness, you'll ever have

Jesus Christ. And I think that's why Jesus gave us those words about what's so controversial

today. God caused. And then God spoke. God spoke. You know, in the midst of all this,

God is going to speak to Noah. And in verse 15, here's what it says, and God spoke to

Noah saying, go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with

you. You know, the last time we hear God speak in this text is 370 days ago. And now He's

speaking to Noah again. Would you agree with me that sometimes God goes a long distance

between the last time He spoke and the next time He speaks to us? Sometimes that seems

like a long, long period of time. But here's my experience with God. If I just obey God

the last time I heard Him, then I'm still on the right track until He says something

to me that's new. So God is about to speak to Noah, and He's about to tell him what

to do, and basically it is go out of the ark. Go into this new world that I've placed in

front of you. Everything is new. All of creation is given the command to be fruitful and to

multiply. God is affirming again His design that He gave in Genesis chapter 1 and 2 and

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

3. Go out two by two, repopulate the globe. But notice the first thing Noah does. The

first thing Noah does after God speaks to him is Noah worships. Now by now Noah's

got a great resume for building. He's built an ark. He's built this massive boat that

has transported he and his eight members of his family and all the animals left on the

earth. He's got all kinds of abilities. He could go and build a home for his family so

that they could be on solid ground. You ever been on a boat before? And have you ever been

on a boat long enough where you want to get on solid ground? Some people have been known

to kiss the ground when they get off of a boat. He could have built a boat. He could

have pursued a dream that he might have had during those 370 days. Moses could have done,

I know Noah could have done almost anything he wanted to do, but instead of anything else,

when he hears God's voice, here's what he does. He worships God. He pauses and worships

God. In verse 20 you see it. It said that Noah built an ark for the Lord and took every

clean animal and every clean bird and offered a burnt offering to the author of the Lord.

You know as I was reading this text I was wondering what do you talk about for 370 days

in the ark? I mean there's no Netflix. There's no Amazon Prime. There's nothing there. You

can't exactly look out the windows because the delusion is happening. So they're conversing.

They're talking. It wouldn't surprise me for Noah to do what God would have wanted

him to do and that is to talk about the God of creation. Noah probably shared with his

sons and daughters everything he knew about God, everything he knew about life, everything

he knew about resting and worshiping God on the seventh day which was something that they

had learned from Adam and Eve. Probably everything they knew about sacrifice and worshiping God

Noah passed on to his sons and their wives. Basically he's following the pattern of Genesis

Genesis 3:21

chapter 3 verse 21 where he offers a sacrifice to the Lord. That's where the Lord took

animals of skin and clothes, the naked Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness. He's basically

following what Cain did in the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis chapter 4 verse 4 but

Genesis 4:4

he's leading them to worship. I mean I think this is a great moment for us to pause for

just a second and say Noah is that guy who had an opportunity to lead his family well

on day one after the ark and the first thing he does is lead his family to worship. Did

you lead those around you well the way Noah did at that moment in time? Well Noah didn't

do everything right but he did that one right. He came before the God of creation, the one

who held his life in his hands and said, God I'm going to worship you. I'm going to lead

my family to worship you. I'm going to make sure that I put you in the first place of

my life. Now the Bible says here that the Lord smelled the soothing aroma. He smelled

the aroma of worship. He was pleased with Noah. Now you consider that from the perspective

of God. From God's perspective billions that he has created and allowed to have life have

ignored God their creator and you've seen them reject your plans and you've seen them

reject your love and your warnings. Billions have ignored you but here is one man Noah.

The Bible says he found grace in the eyes of God and he's going to obey Noah. He's

going to obey God. These eight people with Noah they've loved their creator, they've

trusted their creator, they've cried out to their creator, they've seen him come through

on their behalf and now they're worshiping him and is God pleased? Absolutely. God is

pleased because of their worship. Keep this in mind the first priority of our life is

always going to be to listen to God and to worship God. And when you listen to God you

have all kinds of reasons to worship God because the God of creation will speak to you and

lead you and guide you. You know the truth is that so many believe Jesus but they don't

place him in the first place of their thoughts or their lives or their priorities but Noah

has this part right when it comes to worshiping God and we need to have this right when it

comes to worshiping God. In Matthew chapter 6 Jesus made this statement that's kind of

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

one of those statements that have stuck with me over the years. In Matthew 6 Jesus says

but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.

The context is the context of worry. People are worried about life and things and their

future and everything else and Jesus says but seek first the kingdom of God. Seek first

his righteousness and everything you're now worried about it'll all be taken care of in

good time. And that says to me worship comes first. Worship comes first and that's what

Noah is doing. That first act of worship that Noah and his family are doing moves my heart.

I can see them gathered around this very costly sacrifice with grateful hearts commemorating

the fact that God has brought them through. Why would we miss those opportunities that

we have to worship God? Put him first. And then finally God promised so much here, there's

so much here. If you were looking at verse 21 you'll see that the Lord said to himself

I will never again curse the land on account of man. I will never again destroy every living

thing as I have done. There's so much more to say about this promise but you need to

get at least this. God makes a commitment to himself I will never flood the earth again.

When God judges the earth in the final days it won't be by water it will be by fire

the scripture tells us. And notice that the judgment of the flood did not change the heart

of mankind but in spite of man's wickedness judgment will never again happen this same

way. When someone sees the rains or the waters begin to rise and it looks like a flood is

coming I never worry about the fact that God's going to judge the world again by flood because

he promised he would never do it again. That's what the rainbow in the sky is all about.

We'll look at that more next week but that's what God has promised. But I also want you

to remember what God said about Noah. I go all the way back to chapter 6 verse 8. But

Noah found favor or grace in the eyes of the Lord. As you leave today I want you to think

about what that means. And I want you to understand what it doesn't mean. Noah didn't get grace

or favor because he built the boat. He hadn't done anything by the time this statement was

made. Noah built the boat because he found grace. He didn't get grace because he built

the boat. God's grace picked him out. God's grace enabled him. God's grace drew him to

God. It saved him. It sustained him. It empowered him to do everything he needed to do to save

his family. It's all by grace. And it all comes on the first end, the front end of your

relationship with God. Hundreds and thousands of years later, literally, Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 2:8

2 verse 8 and 9 says this, for by grace you have been saved through faith and that's not

of yourself. It's a gift of God. It's not a result of works so that you can boast. It's

all by grace. Noah found grace in the eyes of God. You need to find grace in the eyes

of God. You're not called to build a boat like Noah was, but you're called to know God

and you're called to serve God and worship God. You need the grace that Noah had and

God gives you that grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. I love the fact that the art

gives us a great picture of the gospel. Remember what we've been talking about when it comes

to God's character. God is a loving merciful God who doesn't want to punish us for our

sin, but at the same time a just judge who will by no means let the guilty go unpunished.

We talk about the offense of sin and how sin ultimately doesn't just hurt us, but it defends

this holy God. And you can certainly see that in the account of the flood and the yard.

God's heart was grieved because of the sinfulness of mankind. But when we get to the S of the

gospel, we talk about the sufficiency of Christ or the sacrifice of Christ. And you see that

in the ark, at least in a picture, a type of what's to come. That ark was totally adequate

to save Noah and his family and all of the animals. And it points to the one who is alone

adequate to save us, and that is Jesus Christ. God always brings the solution to our problems.

And he brings that in the ark in Noah's day, but he brings that to us in Jesus Christ.

My question to you today is have you found grace in the eyes of God? Not because of what

you've done, but because you realize though that God loves you, that God desires to walk

with you. Now there's one more passage that I want to look at for just a moment, verse

22. Jump down to that. It says, while the earth remains, seed time and harvest in cold

and heat and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease. Now the same God that

created the heavens and the earth upholds all these things. This passage reminds me

that I need to be responsible while on the earth, but sane and logical in my thinking.

Man cannot destroy this earth and he will not destroy this earth. Have we not learned

that yet? And yet God says this, he says, there's always going to be the seasons as

long as the earth remains. It's a very clear promise. The seasons will always remain. And

when someone says, oh, it's going to be so hot, we're all going to burn up. I'm going

to go to Genesis chapter 8, verse 22 and say, no, the Bible says we're going to have seasons

Genesis 8:22

cool and hot. And when someone says, oh, we're going to have floods that overwhelm the whole

earth, I'm going to go back to the promise of God in Genesis chapter 8 and verse 22.

Genesis 8 · chapter mention

These things will not cease. We can trust God to keep the earth in good enough condition

for him to finalize his plan on this planet. No one's going to usurp him in that and don't

you be worried about it. But the bottom line is that I want you today to find grace, favor

in the eyes of God. I want you to realize he loves you, he cares about you, even though

the rest of the world is in total chaos, God will find you and show you his mercy and show

you his grace. You know, ultimately we don't find God in chaos, God finds us in chaos.

And he might be finding you today. Over these next few moments, I'm going to extend three

invitations to you. Number one, I'm going to ask you to consider stopping by a decision

station on the way out today and taking a moment to talk to someone about your relationship

with God. It may be today that you came into this room thinking that you had to do something

in order to be right with God, that you had to keep a list of dos and not complete a list

of don'ts. You might have thought you had to be of a certain religion in order to have

access to God. But I'm here to tell you that God wants a relationship with you just between

you and him. He wants you to find grace in his sight and the grace he extends to you

is through Jesus Christ. And I want you to know today before you leave that you can have

a relationship with God, the God of the universe, the God that created heavens and the earth

who preserved Noah and all his family through that time of judgment, he can preserve you.

It's really important that you know that you have that invitation. So I encourage you to

stop by a decision station. They're very clearly marked and well lit on your way out today.

Second invitation is this, I would love to visit with you personally in our guest reception

center. It's just right outside the center exit doors across the hallway. I'd love to

talk to you about what Cross City Church is all about. Thirdly, I want to invite you to

pick up an invite card and invite someone to come back with you next week as we worship

and as we go through the Word of God and especially as we prepare for Easter, an amazing Easter

is ahead of us. Can't wait for all those moments. Invite someone to come with you. Those three

invitations I extend to you today. Would you please stand with me as I close this in a

word of prayer? Father, today I am so very thankful that you are the God of the universe

and yet at the same time you know each of us personally, intimately. Father, I'm thankful

today that there are people in the room that need to know you and they need to know that

you're waiting for them to turn to you. I ask that you draw them to yourself, give them

the courage and the boldness to look to you, to ask you to be their Lord, to be their Savior,

and to talk to someone about that incredible decision. Father, today I am grateful that

you've also given us a promise that while the whole earth may be in a panic, you're

in complete control and we have confidence in you that we can walk in faith and not in

fear throughout whatever is ahead. So Father, today I pray that you'll give us that confidence

as well as we trust you the same way Noah did all those years ago. Thank you so much

for the stories of Scripture that explain so much about the world as we know it. But

more than that, the words of Scripture that point us to you, your character, your love,

your affection for us. I ask that you allow us to experience that personally. In Jesus'

name I pray, amen. God bless you, you're dismissed.