Gen 6:9-22, 7:24, 8:14-19 for this Sunday

Here is the Old Testament Passage for this Sunday Genesis 6:9-22; 7:24; 8:14-19
6:9 These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.
6:10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
6:11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence.
6:12 And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth.
6:13 And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth.
6:14 Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
6:15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
6:16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks.
6:17 For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.
6:18 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.
6:19 And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.
6:20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come in to you, to keep them alive.
6:21 Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them."
6:22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
7:24 And the waters swelled on the earth for one hundred fifty days.
8:14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.
8:15 Then God said to Noah,
8:16 "Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you.
8:17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh--birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth--so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth."
8:18 So Noah went out with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives.
8:19 And every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out of the ark by families.

It is the beloved story from our child hood days. Churches decorate their nurseries and children's rooms with Noah Ark pictures. People do the same with their homes. My kids can tell you the story. Its when we get older that the innocence of this story wears away and you have quite an ugly picture of human beings doing what they wanted when the wanted. Then God gets mad and destroys the earth with a flood. Only Noah and his family is spared, and two of every kind of living animal. Why them? Well, its says he was a righteous person and walked with God.

How righteous are we and how do we walk with God? What does it mean to be righteous? The Hebrew word translated “righteous” (tseqeh) can equally be translated “just”, because the word has about it not the sense of moral fastidiousness but rather of acting justly, equitably and compassionately towards humanity and of being in a covenantal relationship with God. The implication of the word is that one is living in obedience to God’s call and thus is following God’s moral standards in one’s commitment to humanity.

God promised to never flood the earth again, yet if we look around us we live in times very much like Noah's. What's the difference? Are we to make a difference? Is it time for another ark?

If God told us to build an ark or do something as spetacular as that, would we do it? Could we withstand the putdowns from those around us or just being different, living differently than others? Would we stay as righteous as Noah did?

In 2007 Evan Almighty was made as the story of Noah. There were some parts that could have been shored up. But they did get the part right of Noah doing what God asked him to do.

A lot of people wish that God would once again destroy the bad people, but if they got their wish would they be one of those people and not know it?

You might want a little fun with it, by adding What I learned from Noah's Ark.

Or you could use Bill Cosby's Noah's Ark

So how will you preach the Genesis passage this Sunday?

artwork; Edward Hick's Noah's Ark