Faithful Obedience | Pastor Corbett Casteen | Liberty Live Church

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Before After Before After After After After After After After After After After After After After After After After After After After After After After After After After Good morning, welcome to Liberty Live Church. We are so glad you decided to join us.

Today's your first day at Liberty. We'd love to meet you. So text connect to 40371, tap the seat back in front of you, or visit us at one of our next step centers after the service today. We can't wait to meet you. Because of your generosity, lives are being changed right here in Hampton Roads and around the world. When you give, you partner with us to help change lives, communities, and the world for Jesus Christ. You can give through our website, tap the seat in front of you, or through an envelope at your campus today. Thank you for investing in all that God is doing through the work here at Liberty. You know, God is moving in so many incredible ways here at Liberty. From kids to students to young adults to senior adults, there are so many ways for you to find community, discover your purpose, and grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus. So right now, let's look at some exciting things coming up. Don't miss what's happening all throughout the week. So follow us on social media and connect with your campus Facebook group. Thanks again for being here today, where it's not just church, it's life. Good morning, Liberty. Y'all, we are so grateful you're joining us for church this morning. I'm Jenny. This is Pastor Weston of our online family. We'd love to meet you. Let us know where you're streaming from and your name in the chat this morning. That's right, Jenny. It's going to be an incredible day as we continue in our series, going through the book of Hebrews by faith. I'm so excited for how we're going to grow in our faith and learn more about the word. But Jenny, we got some shout outs.

Shout outs. Shout out to Rita and Todd. Okay. Ran into them. Kyle ran into them at the Hampton campus. We just love when we meet our online fam out and about wherever we go. It's so encouraging. And we really are just a church family, right? It goes beyond the screen, it goes beyond your computer, your TV, and it reaches out into the community. So we're thankful for y'all. That's right. We're an online family. And if it's your first time here, we want to connect with you. Text CONNECT to 40371. We would love to introduce ourselves to you, get you plugged in to our Facebook family. That's right. And even send you a free Bible and not just a Bible, but free merch. That's right, Jenny. We're going to send you free merch as just a way to say thank you for joining us today. And it's just such a cool community we're building here. And we're just excited for what God's going to do in your life this morning. Yeah, we are. We can't wait to get you to worship today. But before we do, we have a special guest. And you going to read a scripture? I'm just going to read a scripture real quick. 1 Thessalonians 5.11, therefore, encourage one another and build one another up just as you are doing. We're going back to the chat.

So encouraging every week seeing that chat blow up with someone asked for prayer immediately. So many people are commenting on that comment saying, we're praying for you, whoever that name is. And it's just so cool seeing the community rally together in the chat because we can still encourage one another, even though we're online. And I want to encourage you to do that. do that today. That's right. And like we mentioned last week, we've got a ton coming up this summer. A lot coming up. So we don't want you guys to miss out on any of that. We're gonna head on over to Kyle and Pastor AJ. They're gonna tell you more about it. Well, thanks, Jenny and Wes. And we have got a lot of exciting things coming up this summer. And two of those are student camp and kids week. I've got our next gen pastor here, Pastor AJ. Tell us why they need to get their students to student camp and their kids to kids week. Yeah, two life transforming weeks, truly. I don't just say that flippantly. Kids week, we had, I think, 48 kids just at the Hampton campus give their lives to Jesus last year. And that's not counting all the other campuses. So there's a ton of spiritual value. We treat this like it's more than just childcare. We want your kids to come in and experience Jesus.

And so don't miss that. It's the June 22nd through the 25th. You can sign up now online. Let us know you're coming. We have a specific age breakdown for your kid to come and experience Jesus in their own unique way that week. And then camp is much of the same. Student camp, that's for our rising seventh through 12th graders. And it's gonna be a phenomenal time. We love getting away. One of the things I love to say is that a change in place and a change in pace often leads to a change in perspective. And it's just so true. God moved in such incredible ways last year at student camp. So July 6th through 10th, we're gonna be at Chihuahuan University. You can go online right now and register. If finances are a burden, we're also walking through scholarships for people. So don't let money be a hindrance. Get your kids to camp. It's always a phenomenal time. It's gonna be a life-changing week for them as well. Yeah, it's gonna be awesome. You can check out both of those events at liverylab.church slash events. Get them signed up.

It's gonna be great. And we wanna get you to service, so let's get ready to worship. Stand to your feet. It's a good day to be in the house of the Lord. We're gonna celebrate His faithfulness. Come on. So if you believe that, put your hands together like this. ♪ Sing the mercies I do every morning ♪ ♪ Sing the mercies I do every morning ♪ ♪ Steadfast love will never end ♪ ♪ The storm won't fade in the evening ♪ ♪ Lord, how great is Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Lord, how great is Your faithfulness ♪ Oh, He's faithful and true. He's faithful and true today. Come on, if you believe that, sing every hour. ♪ Every hour, every minute of my life ♪ ♪ Has been part of Your design ♪ ♪ Lord, the whole world's in Your hands ♪ ♪ Every trial, every battle that I face ♪ ♪ God, You met me there with grace ♪ ♪ Every part has served Your plan ♪ ♪ Through it all, You've been so, so good ♪ ♪ Yes, You have kept Your word like You said You would ♪ ♪ Your mercies I do every morning ♪ ♪ Steadfast love will never end ♪ ♪ The storm won't fade in the evening ♪

♪ Lord, how great is Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Lord, how great is Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Even now, looking back on where I've been ♪ ♪ Still as good as You were then ♪ ♪ There's no limit to Your love ♪ ♪ Through it all, You've been so, so good ♪ ♪ You've kept Your word like You said You would ♪ ♪ Your mercies I do every morning ♪ ♪ Steadfast love will never end ♪ ♪ The storm won't fade in the evening ♪ ♪ Lord, how great is Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Lord, how great is Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, how great, oh, how great ♪ ♪ Lord, how great is Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, how great, oh, how great ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Lord, how great is Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Lord, how great is Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Through it all, You've been so, so good ♪ Come on, testify. ♪ Kept your word like you said you would ♪ Through it all. ♪ Through it all you've been so, so good ♪ ♪ Kept your word like you said you would ♪ ♪ Your mercies are new every morning ♪ ♪ Step by step love will never end ♪ ♪ This love won't fade in the evening ♪ ♪ Lord how great is your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Your mercies are new every morning ♪ ♪ Step by step love will never end ♪ ♪ This love won't fade in the evening ♪

♪ Lord how great is your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Lord how great is your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Lord how great is your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Lord how great is your faithfulness Jesus oh oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ There is no one more worthy but you Jesus ♪ ♪ We magnify your name dearly we magnify your name dearly ♪ ♪ Nothing compares nothing comes close to you Jesus ♪ ♪ Close to you Jesus ♪ ♪ Here in your presence we fall on our knees in surrender ♪ ♪ To the son of man who will come again ♪ ♪ You are holy seated on the throne reigning ♪ ♪ King forevermore high and exalted worthy is the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh worthy is the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh worthy is the Lord ♪ ♪ No one can measure your beauty ♪ ♪ Radiance of heaven no one can fathom your glory ♪ ♪ No one can fathom your glory but we lift our eyes ♪ ♪ So we lift our eyes to the Lord above ♪ ♪ You are holy seated on the throne reigning ♪ ♪ King forevermore high and exalted worthy is the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh you are holy seated on the throne reigning ♪ ♪ You are holy seated on the throne reigning ♪ ♪ King forevermore high and exalted worthy is the Lord ♪ Church family, I wanna introduce you to Ryan. Ryan's life has been marked with a lot of hardship and challenge, addiction. He's found himself in and out of correctional facilities. And just a year ago, he was on the streets and even panhandling. And it was at one of those moments

where a car jumped the curb and actually hit him. He found himself in the hospital and a pastor came and shared with him and he realized that God is not done with him yet. And it hasn't been easy since then, but he said, as he's looked over his life in all. All of the hardships and all of the challenging times, he's seen that God has never left him and has always been seeing him and always drawing him to himself. Ryan believes in Jesus and he's given his life to Christ and he comes today out of obedience to be baptized. This is Dustin. Dustin is a chaplain in our prison ministry and Dustin's gonna do the baptism for Ryan. So Ryan, based on your profession of faith, it's a great privilege to get to baptize you, my brother, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We're buried with Christ in his death and we're raised to walk in newness of life. Praise God, bless you. And church, this is Precious. Today is Precious's birthday. And Precious is a mom of four and she got saved when she was 12, but she realized, you know, I'd never follow the Lord in believer's baptism and there's no better day than today to be obedient to Jesus.

And so Precious, it's based on your profession of faith that I get to baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We're buried with Christ in his death and we're raised to walk in newness of life. Bless you. And church, this dear brother is Paul Jones III. Paul was sharing with me that a few years ago, his father passed away and from that time, it's been a really hard and challenging time for him. And a few, just recently, a month ago or so, he started attending Liberty and God's had a hold of his heart and he realized, you know, I've got to step out in obedience to Jesus for me. And so Paul comes this morning to follow Jesus with believer's baptism. So proud of you, brother. It's a great privilege to get to baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We're buried with Christ in his death and we're raised to walk in newness of life. God bless you. Let's keep worshiping Jesus. ♪ Blessing and honor and glory and power and dominion ♪ ♪ And wisdom belong to the only King who's worthy ♪ ♪ Forever and ever sing worthy is the Lord ♪ ♪ Worthy is the Lord ♪ Come on church, lift this up. We sing. ♪ Blessing and honor and glory and power and dominion ♪

♪ And wisdom belong to the only King who's worthy ♪ ♪ Forever and ever sing worthy is the Lord ♪ ♪ Worthy is the Lord ♪ Lift up your outer race today. ♪ Blessing and honor and glory and power and dominion ♪ ♪ And wisdom belong to the only King who's worthy ♪ ♪ Forever and ever sing worthy is the Lord ♪ ♪ Worthy is the Lord ♪ ♪ You are holy, seated on the throne ♪ ♪ Reigning King forevermore ♪ ♪ High and exalted, worthy is the Lord ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, holy, you are holy ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne, reigning King forevermore ♪ ♪ High and exalted, worthy is the Lord ♪ ♪ High and exalted, worthy is the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, worthy, oh so worthy are you, oh so worthy are you ♪ ♪ We sing hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ For the Lord God Almighty reigns Oh, praise be to God Alleluia, for the Lord God Almighty reigns We sing Alleluia Holy, holy are you Lord God Almighty Worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb You are holy, holy are you Lord God Almighty Worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb You are holy, holy are you Lord God Almighty Worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb Oh, righteous is the Lamb Oh, righteous is the Lamb Oh, spotless is the Lamb Amen

Amen We worship you Jesus because of who you are God we worship you because of who you are It's not because of simply what you do We don't worship you just because of your blessings Or because of your benefits, though they're countless But we worship you because of who you are You are the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world You are the sacrifice for us You are our Savior and our friend You are the way, the truth and the life So we're coming this morning into the presence of God because of who Jesus is And I thank you that in your presence all striving ceases God I thank you for your love and your grace We need your love and grace I thank you for your provision God we quiet ourselves before you and we acknowledge the reality of who you are And Jesus we ask that this moment, this hour, that we would be able to meet with you That we'd be able to hear your voice, would you open our ears to hear from you? We want to hear from you Would you change us? Anything that's in us that's not of you, we ask this hour that you would reveal it so we can become more like you God we pray that you would be made much of in this service this hour God we're ready to respond to you And so do what only you can do It's in the holy, the precious name of Jesus that we pray, everybody said Amen Come on I'm so thankful that you're here And I'm thankful that God's here And he has what you need this morning

I really believe this service is not just about attendance Not just about being here This service is about encountering God And this morning he wants you to encounter him He wants to encounter you, meet you right where you're at And so don't miss the opportunity to get to experience Jesus today It's going to be such a great morning together Will you give somebody a high five, a handshake Tell them you're glad to see them at church this morning I want you to be seated and turn your attention to the screens. Well, good morning, Liberty. Who's excited to be in the house of the Lord today? Amen. Well, my name is Corbett and I have the joy of serving as the campus pastor at our Harborview campus. And I'm so grateful to be able to open God's word with you. And I want to welcome those who are joining us at all of our campuses. Those who are tuning in online, come on Liberty, let's welcome all the family this morning. You know, it is a great day to be in the house of the Lord and there are exciting things happening at Liberty. And I want to share with you just a few things before we jump into our message today. The first thing is Life Track. Life Track is taking place today at all of our campuses. And so if you're new to Liberty or if you've never been to Life Track, this is for you. It's an opportunity for you to learn more about who we are. It's an opportunity for you to learn how you can get better connected. But also, if you're ready to make Liberty your church home, you can do that at Life Track today. It's taking place at all of our campuses, lunch and childcare provided. Even if you didn't get a chance to register, we would love to have you at Life Track.

The second thing is the It's Life podcast. There is a new episode that is releasing this Tuesday. You don't want to miss it. It's featuring Miss Tammy. She's going to be talking all things motherhood, all things parenting as we look ahead to Mother's Day. And as if that wasn't enough, there's also going to be a giveaway for a spa gift certificate. So guys, you might be able to get in there in enough time to get that Mother's Day gift that you need. But make sure to tune in to the podcast this week. And then the third thing I want to share with you is Liberty Kids Week. It's right around the corner, June 22nd through the 25th. This is one of the most exciting weeks in the life of our church. Some of our campuses do vacation Bible school, while other campuses have Liberty Kids Clubs in the community. You can find out what your campus is doing online. And I want to encourage all of our church family to get involved. Every year we hear stories of life change. We hear about kids that give their life to Jesus. We hear about families that are reached because of Kids Week. And so I want to encourage you to pray. I want to encourage you to be inviting. You can register to volunteer today. You can also sign up your kids today. Some of us can do all four of those things. But I want to challenge you, do what you can, because we need to be a church that is intentional and is passionate about reaching the next generation with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And all God's people said, amen. All right, this morning, we are continuing in our series by faith. We started this series a few weeks ago, and in week one, we really looked at what is faith

and began by defining faith, looking at the first few verses in Hebrews 11. There were two definitions that I came across in my study that I found extremely helpful because I felt like they covered what faith is, but yet communicated it in a very practical way. The first one is this, faith is living as if things hoped for are real. Faith is living as if things hoped for are real. The second one is this, faith believes that God is who he says he is, and he will do what he says he will do. And so just a powerful understanding of what God is calling us to live out as we live by faith. Last Sunday, we looked at the first two individuals in our text in Hebrews 11, which was Abel and Enoch. And what we see when we look at the text is that Abel believed God and he worshiped. Enoch believed God and he walked with God. And then the scripture today is going to tell us that Noah believed God and he worked. He built an ark. And so this morning, we're going to look at the life of Noah. Let's go to the text. Hebrews 11 verse 7 says, by faith, Noah being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear, constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this, he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. You see, as we look to God's word this morning, we only have one verse in Hebrews 11. It's just Hebrews 11, 7. And so I know y'all are getting excited thinking we're getting to lunch early today. We're only tackling one verse. But when we wanna understand what God is speaking about the life of Noah, we have to look back to Genesis. The first mention of Noah is in Genesis chapter five, it's the genealogy.

And then we see in Genesis 10, we see the descendants of Noah listed. But the bulk of his story takes place between Genesis six and Genesis nine. Now, I don't have the time today to unpack four chapters of scripture, but what I wanna do is try to give us a cliff note or spark notes version of what was taking place so that we can understand what the writer is discussing in Hebrews chapter 11. Now, for the young people that are listening today, spark notes. That was a website that you went to the night before an assignment was due, or you had a test that you had to take on a book that you did not read. Now, I'm not necessarily speaking from personal experience, this is a completely hypothetical situation here. Nowadays, you guys have chat GPT and you can just throw it in there. Tell me what I need to know about this book and it just spits it out and gives you exactly what you need. But I want us to look at two questions before we dive into really the meat of our message today. The first question is this, what is happening in Genesis six? Let's look at Genesis six, verse five, I think it'll give us a good picture. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man

was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And so when our story picks up, God looks out over humanity, and what he sees is wickedness. Look at the words it uses in this verse, it says every intention. It says that they were thinking only evil continually. This does not describe a people that is trying to live for God and they're just making mistakes. This shows the people whose heart is set on wickedness. There was no fear of God in the land. There was no fear of judgment. There was no desire to follow after God, but rather humanity was pursuing the desires of their desperately wicked heart. And as we see in the text, it grieved the heart of God. If you read the surrounding verses in chapter six, what you're gonna find is the description of depravity. And so the text tells us that what God is gonna do as a result of this wickedness is that he is gonna blot out or he is going to destroy every living thing. Everything that has the breath of life in them, it says, except those who are on the ark, he is going to put to death. When we read this text, I want you to understand that this is not a pleasant reality,

that this is a heavy story. This is something that although it's not pleasant, I want you to sit with the weight of it this morning. Because when we look at this account in Genesis of the flood and of the ark, what we see is that sin is serious and God is holy. Although God is infinitely loving, scripture also tells us that he's just. And if God is just, he cannot let wickedness go unpunished. You see, many times when we think about the story of Noah's ark, we get the wrong picture in our mind. You've read this in a children's storybook, or maybe you walked through the hallways of a church and you saw the cutest mural that had a boat with a giraffe sticking out the window and a rainbow behind it. And I want you to know that's not a bad thing, but the reality is when we are looking at this text, it speaks of universal judgment. It talks about a global flood washing away every living thing because of the wickedness of man. The second question I want us to look at this morning is who is Noah? If you recall last Sunday, we talked about Enoch, that he walked with God and he was not for God took him. The text tells us that Enoch fathered Methuselah, Methuselah fathered Lamech and Lamech fathered Noah. And so based off that genealogy, we know that Noah was the great grandson of Enoch. Now scripture tells us that his father,

when he named him said this, out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief. The name Noah literally means rest. And so in the middle of chapter six, where we see the world is just living in wickedness, that every thought that they had was evil continually. This is what Genesis six says about Noah. Verse eight says, but Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Church, it's a beautiful statement there, that in the middle of a wicked and perverse generation, God saw Noah and it said, Noah found favor with God. I pray that that's what God says about us today. That in the middle of wickedness, in the middle of an evil culture, that he looks down at Liberty Live Church and he says, Liberty Live Church has favor with God. I hope that he looks down at the. of Jesus Christ and says, they have favor with me because they trust me and they're walking in faith. But I want you to see verse nine. It says, these are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. You see a stark contrast in the text. You see a wicked and an evil generation that is described as living in depravity and then you see Noah. It says that he found favor with God.

That he was righteous, that he was blameless, that just like Enoch, he walked with God. And so what I really believe we can see from the text today is that Noah is an example to the people of God, that you can live faithfully for God even if no one else follows. Noah is an example to us of faithful obedience. And so I want us to spend the rest of our time today looking at three truths about faithful obedience. The first one is this. Faithful obedience believes when it cannot see. Hebrews 11, seven, our text. It says, by faith, Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen. Noah received a warning from God. God told him that there was wickedness throughout the whole earth and that he was gonna judge the wickedness, that he was bringing about a great flood to destroy all of humanity except for those who were in the ark. But God also told Noah that he was calling him to build a large ship and in building that ark, his family would be saved. You see, it required him to have faith. It required him to trust God. Noah had to trust the Lord even when he couldn't see what was gonna take place, even when he didn't fully understand what God was doing. Let's look at Genesis six, verses 13 through 18.

It says this, and God said to Noah, I have determined to make an end of all flesh for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood and make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it. The length of the ark, 300 cubits, its breadth, 50 cubits, and its height, 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark and finish it. To a cubit above and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which the breath of life, in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die, but I will establish my covenant with you and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. Church, I want you to try to put yourself in Noah's shoes today. Imagine what it must have been like to hear from God and him to say, global catastrophe, a global flood is coming. All of humanity, everything that has the breath of life in them is going to be destroyed except for those who are in the ark. I imagine his first response would have been to be terrified. Think about that, to hear God say

that this type of catastrophic event is gonna take place had to be a scary thought for him. But then God gives him specific instructions. He tells him that he wants him to build a boat. He wants him to build an ark. And then he gives very specific details for how he's supposed to build that. He tells him that it's gonna be, when you translate the cubits, I'm gonna do this for you guys because I'm not an expert in cubits. I imagine we don't have many in the room today, but approximately it was 510 feet long by 51 feet tall and 85 feet wide. The ark that God was calling Noah to build was approximately a football field and a half long. This was a massive boat that the Lord was instructing him to build. And he said, Noah, if you respond in faith, if you trust my word, your family will be saved. Hebrews 11, seven says that he was warned of events yet unseen. This wasn't something that Noah could see right in front of him. Noah had never experienced any type of event, any type of catastrophic event quite like what was about to take place. Perhaps he didn't even understand what the Lord was about to do, but he trusted God and he believed him.

When I was back in college, there was a time where our leadership team, we did a team building activity and they asked all of the leaders to come outside. And when we got outside, they blindfolded us. After they blindfolded us, they told us to reach out our hands and put our hands on the shoulders of the person in front of us. At that point, the instructions that we were given. were to listen to one of our leaders as they told us what to do. We couldn't see anything, but they would say, walk forward. Every now and then they would say, take a step to the left. Sometimes they would tell us to stop. After about 30 minutes, what happened is we took off the blindfolds and we were on the other side of campus. We had walked down busy streets, probably not the safest idea to do that blindfolded. We had crossed over the road. We had walked down a pedestrian bridge. And what happened was we got to the other side of campus safely, not because we could see where we were going, but because we were listening to a voice that we trusted. Isn't that true of Noah today? Noah couldn't see all the details. He couldn't see everything that God was gonna do, but he trusted the voice of God

and he responded with obedience. I want you to see the text in Genesis 6, 22. It said, Noah did this. He did all that God commanded him. Noah acted not on what he could see, but on what God had already said. And it says in the text, he did all that God commanded him. Church, faith obeys even when we don't understand. Faith obeys God and what he says, even when we don't fully understand. You've got to imagine that Noah had a lot of questions in this situation. Like, let's just be real. Let's not make him out to be a super saint. God, who's gonna pay for the boat? Where am I gonna get all the lumber? How am I gonna build it? How do I know that it's gonna float? Because if I built it, it probably wouldn't float. God told him that he was gonna take two of every animal and seven of the clean animals. I imagine he asked God, how are we gonna get all those animals? Like, do I have to go out and catch them? How are we gonna get enough food to support my family and all the animals that are on the ark? And y'all, don't be spiritual. What are we gonna do with all the poop? Like, if you've got all these animals on the ark and it's sealed up, like, there's some major problems

that are gonna happen over the course of time. What are we gonna do with all that? I imagine that Noah had some incredible questions, but it doesn't say anything about that. It said Noah did all that God commanded him. I imagine he not only had questions, he had fears, he had doubts, he didn't understand, but it did not keep him from obedience. I believe today that there are many that are listening, that God has spoken a clear word over your life, that God has spoken and you know that he is calling you to something. But instead of responding in obedience like Noah, maybe you're in a season where you're wrestling with questions, with doubts, with fears. I believe there's some that God has spoken and he has called you into full-time ministry, that he has called you to be a pastor. He's called you to be a missionary. Maybe he's called you into a different area. I believe there's some that God has spoken and he wants you to go on a short-term mission trip to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. I believe there are people today that God has called you to start a new business because he wants to bless you and he wants to use you to fund the advancement of the gospel. I believe at the same time there are others that God has spoken and he wants you to sell your business because he has something different in store for you.

I believe there are people today all around this room at all of our campuses online that God is calling you to step out in faith. Maybe he's called you to give sacrificially so that the kingdom could be advanced and so that more people can hear the gospel. Maybe God has called you to take a simple step of obedience. There's someone in your life that doesn't know him, a neighbor, a coworker, a friend, and you know God has called you to take the gospel to them and share about the good news of who he is. But I fear that for many of us, rather than respond in obedience like Noah, we've questioned, we've doubted, we've feared. Maybe we've asked questions like, God, how am I gonna support myself? What does this mean for my family? What does my future look like? What if I fail? What if I don't know all the answers? Church, I wanna speak very clearly to you this morning. If God has spoken clearly, you don't have to question, you don't have to doubt, you don't have to fear, you simply take that first step of obedience and I guarantee you, he will take care of the rest. Even when we don't see it, we can trust who God is, that he is who he says he is, he will do what he says he will do, and we step out in faith. You see, faithful obedience

obeys even when it doesn't see, but it also fears God over man. Faithful obedience fears God over man. Hebrews 11, it says, by faith, Noah being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen in man. reverent fear, constructed an ark for the saving of his household. You see, Noah believed what he couldn't see, but the motivating factor behind his obedience was that he had a reverent fear of God. That phrase is only used one time in the New Testament, and it's right there in Hebrews 11. It means to act cautiously, to beware, to reverence, to stand in awe of God. Noah had a healthy fear of the Lord. And this was a contrast to the generation he was living in. They were living in wickedness. They were living in sin. There was no fear of God. There was no fear of punishment or judgment, but they were just doing what was right in their own eyes. But it says that Noah feared God. Church, we all need a healthy fear of God in our life. Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 13 says, the end of the matter, all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man, the whole duty of man. The purpose is that we fear God,

that we stand in awe of him. It is respecting him, but it's not just that. When you look throughout scripture, you see that when people encountered God, many times they fell on their face. I think of Isaiah who had a vision in the throne room of God, and his first response was, woe is me, for I am a wicked man. I am a sinful man of unclean lips. You see, fear of God produces obedience. In Noah's day, there was no fear of God, but the text tells us that Noah feared God reverently. And I believe he did this because he believed that God was a rewarder, that God would do what he promised he would do, and if God warned about something, it was going to come to pass. I want you to write this down because we don't have time to cover all of them today, but four times in chapter six and chapter seven, it makes a statement like this. Noah did all that God commanded him. Genesis 6.22, Genesis 7.5, Genesis 7.9, and Genesis 7.16. Noah took God at his word, and he obeyed. In fact, he feared the thought of being separated from God or facing his judgment, and so he obeyed God. Church, you have to consider the position that this put Noah in. When he chose to obey God,

that wasn't just one step that he was taking, but he was obeying him by building an ark that was the size of a football field and a half. This is not a boat that you can hide in This is not a boat that you can build a fence around and that people can't see. When Noah was building this boat, he didn't finish it in an afternoon. This wasn't just a small project. This took him years to build, and it doesn't say this in the text, but I can only imagine that day after day, there were people that walked by and they saw what he was doing. Noah, what are you doing? I'm building an ark. Why? Well, funny you ask. God said that there's gonna be a flood and there's gonna be a flood. Funny you ask. God said that there's gonna be a great flood and it's gonna destroy every living person except for the people who were on this ark. Living in a wicked generation, I imagine that that explanation did not go over well with the people around Noah. I believe with every passing day, with every passing year, the people probably ridiculed Noah more and more.

There's goody two shoes Noah. There's old boat building Noah. There's the God fearing Noah that's over there building his ark again, waiting for the flood to come. Now I've gotta admit, I've never built an ark. I know some of y'all thought maybe that I had, but I've never built an ark in my life. But I do like to put out a lot of Christmas decorations. Pretty similar. But one year, a few years ago, I decided that we had a busy December. And so I was gonna get a jumpstart on putting out the Christmas decorations. I started building stuff, putting it out in the yard. And y'all, it was about a week and a half before Thanksgiving. And so I wasn't out there two hours, and I bet three or four different people walked by and said, getting started a little early this year, aren't you? It's Christmas time already. And they kept making all these comments. And y'all know what I wanted to say? Mind your own business. You don't have to decorate your house. Just let me do what I'm doing. But if I'm honest, I went inside and I started feeling self-conscious. I started thinking, maybe it is too early. I don't wanna go back out there.

People are gonna start ridiculing me, picking on me again. I might just stay inside. You know, Noah spent decades building an ark, believing the promises of God long before the flood ever came. You gotta imagine that he dealt with some of this and even more. Perhaps at night, when Noah laid his head down to go to sleep, he rested. So with questions like, what if they're right? What if it never rains? What if I'm wasting my time? But Noah feared God over man. He was more concerned with obedience to God than gaining the approval of man. The only way that you can live this way is when you believe the promises of God and the warnings of God to be a sure thing, that we serve a God that's gonna do what he said he will do, and so I will build my life upon that. Church, I wonder how often we let the fear of man and seeking the approval of others keep us from living in obedience to God. I read an article this week that said the top five reasons that people do not share their faith is one, fear of embarrassment, fear of rejection, fear of persecution, fear of ignorance, meaning they don't know the answers. Number five, fear of shame, meaning their lifestyle doesn't line up with what they're sharing.

What that tells me is that many people do not share their faith, do not live out their faith, do not live in obedience to what God has said because they're worried about what other people will think. They're worried about how they will respond. They're worried about how they will act towards them afterwards. They're worried about what it will make them look like. Church, you realize that when we do that, we are choosing our own personal comfort over the approval of Almighty God. We've chosen to fear what we can see instead of that which is promised and unseen. Think about this. If Noah would have let the fear of man trump his fear of God, he would have perished in the flood just like all of humanity, but he didn't. He believed God, he feared God, he obeyed God, and God provided a way for him to be saved from the impending judgment. Church, when we look back at God's faithfulness in the past, it gives us confident hope in his promises for the future. You see, faithful obedience not only believes what it cannot see, it not only fears God over man, but the third thing we'll see today is that it impacts others. Let's look back at our verse. By faith, Noah, being warned by God, concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear, constructed an ark

for the saving of his household. By this, he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. You see, the passage reveals two effects of Noah's faith and his obedience. Number one, it says, as a result, his household was saved. And the second thing it says is that it condemned the world. I wanna look at the latter one first. Noah's faith and his obedience condemned the world. This means that his faithfulness exposed the unbelief of those who were living all around him. This is not Noah proclaiming judgment on anyone. This is not a legal sentence that he was placing, but rather the fact that he was living for the Lord. The fact that he was walking in obedience exposed everyone else around him that was walking in wickedness. It's like when you bring a light into a dark room. The light stands out in the darkness, but it also reveals what was there previously. You see, Noah's faithfulness exposed or revealed the wickedness that was in the world. And church, I want you to know, your obedience speaks the testimony against an unbelieving world. When we live with faithful obedience, it impacts the people around us. Not only did it say that his faith condemned the world, but it says that Noah's faith to build an ark

saved his household from judgment. Noah's obedience provided a way for his family to be saved from the flood. Noah believed God for what he could not see. He feared God and that led to obedience. And through his obedience, scripture says that his household was saved. Now, I wanna be clear this morning, saving faith is a personal decision. You cannot make that for anyone else. Each one of us has to make the choice of who is Jesus. Is he the Lord of our life or is he just a good teacher? You can't make that choice for anyone else. It's a personal decision. But we do see in scripture that because of Noah's faith, God's favor was extended to his family, that his family was saved from the flood. And I want you to know, church, that when we live in faithful obedience, it encourages others and it motivates them to live for the Lord. I want you to see Genesis 8, verse 16. It says, go out from the ark, you and your wife, your sons and your sons' wives with you. This was at the end of the flood. They were in the ark for a year and 10 days based off the biblical account that we have. And it says, at the end of a year and 10 days, that Noah, his sons, his wife, his sons' wives, and all of the animals that were in,

that they departed from the ark. God brought them through the flood. He saved them. Now, I've gotta be honest with you guys today. If I spent a year and 10 days in a boat with a bunch of animals, I don't think I would wanna see another animal anytime soon. Like, that's some close quarters. But you also gotta think, in this text, we've got Noah's sons' wives. They spent a year and 10 days with their in-laws. Now, I'm not gonna go there. That's not a good spot to unpack today. But the reality is that God brought them through the flood. He saved them. You see, the flood shows us God's judgment on sinful humanity, but it points us to the final judgment. Even after Noah came off the ark, we see pretty quickly that wickedness and sin was still present. While the flood acted as a cleansing, it did not solve the problem of humanity's wickedness, but it points us to something greater. Matthew 24, verses 36 through 39 says this. But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son of Man, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark. And they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away. So will be the coming of the Son of Man. This passage tells us that the return of Christ will be like the days of Noah. With Noah, God judged the whole world because of their wickedness. And there was only one way that people could be saved. God provided an ark, and anyone who was on that ark, their lives were spared. Noah was saved because of his faith. And because of his faith, God counted it as righteousness. Church, one day when Christ returns, he will defeat wickedness once and for all. And there is only one way that anybody can be saved. This time around, it's not an ark, but God has spoken that the only way that we can be saved is through his Son, Jesus Christ. Believing in his death, his burial, and his resurrection, and not having a righteousness that is our own, but a righteousness that is Christ. Because when God judges wicked, he always makes a way for the righteous to be saved. I want you to see John 14, verse six. It says, Jesus said to them, "'I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.'" Church, there is only one way to God. There's not many roads that lead there. There's one way. Jesus says, I am the way. If you wanna know God, if you want your sins to be forgiven, if you want to know that heaven is your home, the only way that you inherit that is through Jesus. Only the righteous will be saved. And church, there's not a single one of us here today that's righteous. We've all fallen short. We look more like the generation in Genesis six. But God loved us so much that he didn't just talk about judgment, he talked about salvation. He sent his Son, Jesus, to make a way for us. God gave Noah a warning that judgment was coming. His building of the ark was the warning to the people around him. Matthew tells us that during that timeframe of Noah, they were eating, they were drinking, they were getting married. You know what that means? They were carrying on business as usual. They were living their life as if nothing was happening. And it wasn't until the floodwaters started to rise. Noah didn't know when the rain would start, but he took God at his word and he acted in faith.

Church, Jesus has told us that he is coming again. We don't know the hour, we don't know the day. It could be today. The question is, are you ready? If Jesus were to come back today, are you prepared? In the last days, the judgment that comes is far greater than even what happens in the story of Noah. Only those who have placed their faith in Jesus will be saved. Have you stepped into the boat? Have you made Jesus the Lord of your life? You see, the people that lived in Noah's day, when the floodwaters began to rise, I bet that they wished that they would have listened to what Noah had said. But in that moment, it was too late. because the doors were sealed. Faith is living as if things hoped for are real. As sure as God said that he was gonna bring a flood in Noah's day, he has told us that Jesus is coming again. And if you look all throughout scripture, if you look all throughout human history, here's what you're gonna find. God is a God that keeps his promises and he does what he says he will do. And so we must live as if what he says is real and it will come to pass. He's coming back to save the righteous and to judge the wicked. The question is, will you be ready when he returns?

And church, I wanna speak to you for just a moment. We must live our lives believing that this is true. If you knew that Christ was coming back today, how would it change the way that you live? When you left this place, you would pick up the phone and you would call that loved one. You would call that friend and you would urge them to get in the boat. You would urge them to give their life to Jesus because when time is of the essence, we do what matters most. Church, may we live our lives as if Jesus is coming back today. And even if he doesn't, even if he doesn't return in our lifetime, may we get to the end of our days and may we be found faithful because he's worthy of our obedience. If you're here this morning and you've never given your life to Jesus, I wanna encourage you, today is the day of salvation. Don't wait. Don't wait till a better time. Don't wait for a later date. That opportunity may not come, but today you can make Jesus the Lord of your life. You can know that your sins are forgiven. You can know that you have a restored relationship with God and you can know that heaven is your home. If you're ready to take that step today, I wanna encourage you to pray with me something like this.

Heavenly Father, I believe that you're good. I believe that you sent Jesus to this earth, that he died in my place on the cross. I believe that he was buried and he rose again on the third day. God, I ask you to forgive me of my sins. I make Jesus the Lord of my life. Help me to live for you all of my days. It's in Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen, church family. Can we celebrate every person who just prayed that prayer? You might've prayed that prayer online or right here in the room. We would love to know that you made the decision to follow Jesus today. You can always connect with us by texting YES or connect to 40371. There are stickers on the seat backs in front of you here in the room. We'd love for you to tap your phone against that and be able to connect with us instantly. And let us know that you prayed that prayer and made that decision right there online, wherever you're at. There's a button and an option for you to connect with us there. But I want everyone to stand all over this place. This is the most important moment of this service. I really want you to focus. No moving around, walking around.

Don't get sidetracked on what's gonna happen next. I really want you to focus in. I have one question for you this morning. As we close this service, are you right with God? Are you right with God? Pastor Corbett started out by talking about many of you might have a word from God. God might be calling you to something. And the question is, are you stepping out in faith? Are you walking in obedience to the call of God? I want you to be open. And if you're wrestling with the call of God on your life, I encourage you to come surrender to the Lord. Give that over to God and let him know that you're willing to follow him into what he's calling you to. You don't have to have all the answers. You can be obedient even now. As I meet with so many people in our church, one of my struggles as one of your pastors is they're just a lack of the fear of God. It's so concerning to me that we think we can live however we want, that we can live contrary to the word of God and still receive his blessing. It doesn't work like that. The judgment of God is coming against all wickedness. And today we have an opportunity before this service even ends to make sure we're right with him.

If there's any sin pattern in your life, if there's anything that you're walking in that you know is not of God, I encourage you to come repent and get right with God. In fact, we're gonna have staff all across the front. We'd love the opportunity to pray with you and to help you take your next step as you walk in holiness and walk in obedience to God. My encouragement is, if there's a part of you that feels convicted in that, if you sense, even as I say that, that the Holy Spirit is convicting you about sin in your life, friend, that's an invitation of God. You can repent. You can get right. He doesn't convict us to cast us out. He convicts us to draw us in and draw us close. And so this is an opportunity to get right with Jesus, and to come be His, to come be washed clean and made new and receive the grace and love of God. And it's an opportunity to make sure that you don't leave this place in the same sin and condemnation that you walked in with. And then finally, I want to encourage you. There are so many people that don't know Jesus, so many people in your sphere of influence, so many people in your family. I know there's so many people who we've been praying with you for family members for years, maybe even decades, that they would come to know the Lord. And God is able, and He can open their eyes in an instant. He can use you to continue to be a light. And so I encourage you to just come and pray over names that you've brought before the Lord before and ask that He would save them and restore them. This is our moment to respond, to get right with God, and to make sure before we leave this place that we've been obedient to the word that He's spoken. I'm going to pray and we'll respond together. God, I ask right now that you would take your word and you would apply it to every heart in this room,

to every person watching online, that you would help them know what their next step is with you, that you would call them out of sin, call them out of addiction, call them out of unrighteousness and into the life that you've created them to live. Even now, I pray that you would draw people to yourself. God, I pray that you'd bring people to our minds who still need to follow you. God, I pray that you would take the truth of your word and apply it to us so that we're changed by it. Would you do what only you can do in these last few moments together? God, we're listening, we're responding, we're coming back to you. It's in your holy, precious name, the name of Jesus, that we pray. Amen. Let's worship the Lord and respond together. One thing I ask for, one thing I seek most, that I may dwell with you. All I want is to be close to you. All I want is to be close. Jesus, spend all my days on you. Jesus, walk in a place with you. Jesus, help me stay. I hear you calling. My heart is calling. I never want to leave. There is a stillness that comes with your nearness. No place I'd rather be. All I want is to be close to you. All I want is to be close. Jesus, spend all my days on you. Jesus, walk in a place with you. Jesus, help me stay. ♪ Jesus, help me stay ♪ ♪ Jesus, spend all my days on you ♪ ♪ Jesus, set in my days on you ♪

♪ Jesus, help me stay ♪ ♪ Oh, we love your presence, God ♪ ♪ We love your presence ♪ ♪ Your presence is the evidence of your goodness ♪ ♪ Of your goodness ♪ ♪ Your presence is the evidence of your goodness ♪ ♪ Oh, we love your presence, your presence is the evidence ♪ ♪ Is the evidence of your goodness ♪ ♪ Of your goodness ♪ ♪ Oh, we love your presence, God ♪ ♪ Your presence, Lord ♪ ♪ All I want is to be closed ♪ ♪ Oh, to behold you, Lord ♪ ♪ All I want is to be closed ♪ ♪ Gaze upon you in a sanctuary ♪ ♪ All I want is to be closed ♪ ♪ It's the one thing we seek after ♪ ♪ All I want is to be closed ♪ ♪ Jesus, spend all my days on you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Walking in place with you, Jesus, help me stay ♪ ♪ Jesus, spend all my days on you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Setting my gaze on you, Jesus, help me stay ♪ ♪ Jesus, help me stay ♪ Well, Liberty family, thank you so much for joining us today. Such an awesome word by pastors. We continue in this series by faith, walking through the book of Hebrews. And if you made a decision today to believe and follow Jesus for the very first time and pray that prayer along with pastor,

we want to celebrate with you. That is the best decision that you will ever make. You know, scripture says, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. And we just can't wait for you as you start this journey of faith. We actually want to send you something from Liberty online. We want to send you a free Bible. So when you text connect to 40371, write Bible in one of those boxes and we'll make sure to deliver that right to your door because that is your new playbook for life. That's how God's going to speak to you each and every morning as you start your day and how you're going to grow in your relationship with him. So write Bible, we'll send you that free Bible. And we can't wait to see you back here next week as we continue in our series. We love you. See you then. Bye. Huh? Si..? Huh?? Separate the section. Huh?? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?

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