Salt + Light Fort Worth

Um, alright.

Truly a, a global day.

We just celebrated folks from
around the globe and now we're

talking about a less happy part
of, uh, global history and reality.

So, uh.

If you're here visiting, um,
and not from around the world.

My name's Ben.

I get to be part of the servant
leadership team and we're really honored.

What a fun day for you to be here.

Um, but whoever you are, um, we as a
church are walking through the book

of Genesis, kinda going story by story
through the origins of the earth and

going, this is how God created life to be.

This is no longer how life is.

Why is that?

And what are the echoes and domino
effect and that kind of stuff that

we feel thousands and thousands
and thousands of years later.

So we are in Genesis six and seven,
if you wanna turn in your Bibles or

open an app to Genesis six or seven.

Um, again, we're not going kind of verse
by verse, if that's your tradition.

We're going kind of story
by story through Genesis.

Um, and I've had this
favorite phrase recently.

Um, my family mocks me for this
phrase 'cause I use it so much.

But it is super applicable
in so many situations.

And the phrase is this,
you know what it's.

Two things can be true.

Two things can be true at the same time.

Two things can be true at the same time.

We did not, we did, I did
not prep her for that.

That's how, how prevalent it is.

Um, they hate it, but
it's so, it's so true.

So many situations, right?

Somehow Jess can be hot
and cold at the same time.

I don't get it.

Um, you can love someone deeply
and be so annoyed with them, right?

Anyone?

It's Valentine's Week, so you're
not allowed to say the annoyed part.

Um, ministry can be hard
and really beautiful.

Life can be hard and really beautiful.

What are some other two things
can be true at the same time?

Anything come to mind for you already?

Not yet.

Already.

Not yet.

Oh, nice.

Very spiritual.

Yeah.

We're part of the kingdom of the
kingdom's not fully, fully here yet.

What else?

We can be suffering and be in the
middle of God's will suffering

in the middle of God's will.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And on and on and on we could go.

Um, I turned 43 years old next month.

Part of the two things being true
at the same time, um, is just that

most areas, most every area of life
seems a little less black and white,

a little less either or than when
I was 23-year-old, 23 years old.

Um, there's more nuance, just
different points of views.

Uh, there's context for every
situation that you might not

see on the surface, right?

Um, maybe I'm just grasping grace.

Maybe that's all.

It's, um, but there's one topic that,
that for followers of Jesus and for

folks who don't follow Jesus, um, one
topic is very hard to accept that two

things can be true at the same time.

And that topic is God.

Two things can be true at the same time.

Is that true of God?

And lots of Christian theology?

Two things are true at the same time.

Jesus is fully God and fully Man,
we can't wrap our minds around that.

Is Jesus grace or truth?

Yes.

Yes, that's right.

Uh, is God in control or
do we have some choice?

Yes.

Depending on where you land on that.

I know there's a lot of churches in
the room, but the answer is somewhere.

Yes.

Yes, that's right.

It's, it's a both and, um, watching
the Super Bowl last week and

then seeing the ridiculous, uh,
uproar over the, he gets us ad.

Um, you saw this, right?

It happened last year.

Uh, people got really upset about that.

Maybe you got really upset about that.

There, there's an anti ad
campaign that came out.

They didn't spend the millions of dollars
but online that said he doesn't get us.

He saves us both, right?

Like, can't it be both?

Like, can't Jesus get us and also save us?

We're told that our high priest
associates with us in everything

we go through, and also that he's.

That it's frustrating both and both
and, but we like black and white things.

And so you hear things like the
Old Testament, God is angry.

And the New Testament, God is gracious.

That is not true's, not true.

It's not true.

He's both, he's it both.

And, and so Genesis six and seven is one
of the more famous stories in the Bible.

Even if you have, have not walked
with Jesus for a day in your life.

And if that's you, thank
you for being here.

Um, thank you for considering this.

It's bold to walk into a room like this.

But even if you don't know Jesus, this
is a famous story, like this is one

of the, the Bible stories that has
surpassed kind of the Christian circles.

This is a story of Noah and the flood,
and it's another time where two things

can be true of God at the same time.

What we see in this story,
Genesis six and seven, is that

God is patient and God is just.

God is patient and God is just, and we're
gonna look at both sides of that today.

So Father, would you be with us?

And would you help us to marry these
things together and be able to hold

them both as true because you are true?

And help us to rest in that.

It's in your son's name.

Amen.

Amen.

Alright, so just like Genesis one, if
you were here a few weeks ago, uh, we

walked through the, the creation account.

Um, similarly there, there
are other creation accounts.

There's other kind of ancient texts that
talk about the creation of the world.

The flood story's another one
that has a lot of similarities,

a lot of other accounts.

Uh, Gilgamesh, you may remember from
long ago in, in middle school, uh, some

of us, uh, read the story of Gilgamesh.

It's the most famous kind of
flood story, um, but similar,

if you remember to creation.

We said creation was in, in most other
ancient texts, the result of God's

fighting over each other and pettiness
and vengeance, and one God created,

uh, the world, another destroyed it.

And all this kind like his
fighting, fighting among the

pantheons of the ancient world.

If you remember Gilgamesh, which
I'm assuming none of you do, um,

the reason the Gods created a flood
on the earth was 'cause people

were noisy and woke the gods up.

That was it.

Like how petty is that?

Almost every ancient text
is something like that.

The same, the same pettiness,
vengefulness, that kind of stuff that

you, that we saw in the, the, the
alternate origin stories is, is what

you see in ancient flood stories.

The gods are fighting.

The gods are petty, the gods are vengeful.

Um, the Bible tells the story of a
God who is not petty, not vengeful,

not fighting 'cause he alone is
God, but rather is patient and

just, does it make it any easier?

Maybe, but it's both of
those things together.

Uh, here's what I mean in Genesis two.

What did God promise as
the discipline for sin?

Oh, this should be an easy one.

Pastor's in the room.

What does God promise for?

Discipline?

For sin?

Death.

Death.

Thank you.

My 10-year-old son, um, death.

Last week we saw Abraham live 930 years.

That's 'cause God is patient.

It.

And we saw last week Adam died
for his sin because God is just.

If you weren't here last week, the last
couple weeks, we've seen generation

after generation since Adam and Eve.

The the world just gets worse and
worse, and sin and evil and brokenness

just perpetuate and propagate, and
that's what grows across the earth.

And there's this utter disregard
for God and his will in his way.

Just a few chapters in, we've seen
murder, we've seen polygamy, we've

seen pride, we've seen lust, we've
seen vengeance probably a lot

more that didn't make the text.

In Abraham's lineage, Eve's, I'm
sorry, Abraham, we're not there yet.

Adam and Eve's lineage lasted a
thousands and thousands of years.

Why?

Because God is patient.

And yet in Genesis six we see that God is
just and, and this is the chapter where

this tension finally comes to a head.

This is the first time in the
Bible that sin is so rampant.

That God's justice
outweighs God's patience.

Why?

What happened?

This is a super weird story,
but let's dive into it.

When man began to multiply as Genesis six
one, when man people began to multiply

in the face of the earth, and daughters
were born to them, the sons of God saw

that the daughters of man were attractive.

And they took his, their
wives, any they chose.

That's a, that's a forceful
image for the record.

Then the Lord said, my spirit
shall not abide man forever.

For he is flesh.

His days shall be 120 years.

And then Nephilim or Nephilim
were on the earth in those days.

And afterwards when the Sons of
God came into the Daughters of man

and they bore children to them.

So the Nephilim were the, the
result of this weird union.

And these were the mighty men.

The Nephilim were the mighty men
of renowned, uh, mighty men who

were of old men of, of renowned.

Um, this is one of the
weirder stories in the Bible.

Yes.

It's a little bit confusing, not just
a little bit confusing, but, but here's

what's going on today, based on kind
of Greek philosophy, which is most of

what shaped Western world, spiritual
things and physical things stay separate.

Spiritual's good, physical's, bad.

They don't touch in the Bible and not
just in this story, physical beings.

Are deeply spiritual.

We know this.

Like we are not separate, we're not soul.

Separate from like God made us
holistic at the same time in the

Bible and especially before the flood.

Spiritual beings can take
on physical manifestations.

If you're like, what?

Uh, we just saw like angels
guard, the Garden of Eden.

Okay, they're probably not invisible.

They're there.

Um, we'll see when we come to the
story of Abraham, three Men come.

Uh, and and speak to Abraham.

The Bible calls two of them angels.

They can be seen in the New Testament.

Our resurrection bodies are going
to be physical and spiritual bodies.

Okay.

I'm just trying to normalize
this for us because it's about

to get super duper weird.

Okay.

Physical and spiritual are not meant
to be separate, and especially before

the flood, they were more intertwined
than we think they are today.

So here's what's happening.

The Sons of God is the word, the
Old Testament uses for angels.

I tried to get around this, 'cause
again, it seems super weird, but

everywhere in the Bible, the, the,
the word sons of God refers to angels.

So here they're fallen angels, they're
demons, they're spiritual beings.

The physical manifestation of
the spiritual being has physical

relationships with human women.

There it is weird.

Yeah.

Angels have relationships with
human women and the result is these

like giant Dimmi God warriors.

This is Lord of the Rings.

So very like middle earth kind of thing.

And to us it seems super weird, but
Genesis, especially pre-flood, spiritual

and physical things are more intertwined.

In fact, this isn't the first
time that spiritual beings and

human beings rebel together.

In Genesis three, Satan, who
is a fallen angel deceives,

a woman named Eve into sin.

In Genesis six, these spiritual
beings continue to sin through

using and abusing women.

In Genesis three, the demon, the Satan
led eve to eat a fruit disobey God.

In Genesis six demons, fallen
angels take women for themselves.

And so you see this spiritual,
physical reality disobeying

and going against God's order.

And it's hard to say this as if it's fact.

Yeah, but this is the interpretation
of all the Old Testament rabbis.

This is the, this is the, the way
that this text is explained, uh,

between the old and New Testament.

Peter, one of Jesus's apostles, Jude,
Jesus' own brother, reference this

as what's going on in Genesis one.

If that's too super weird for you,
there's the second option, which following

Genesis four and five, the way of God,
the way of Cain, we've been talking

about this for the last couple weeks.

Just the idea of the sons of God.

Means that they're good people and the
daughters of man means they're bad people.

Not all women and men could have been
daughters of God, sons of man, and just

the good married the bad and the bad
influenced the good and made 'em bad.

That's the other easier for our
minds to palate translation.

But that's not historically how
this verse has been understood.

This passage,

bottom line, however you interpret
this, it's confusing, but

also however you interpret it.

It is just another example after we've
seen for the last two weeks, if you've

been part of salt and light, just another
way that God's creation rejects God.

Just another way that we say no to our
creator, that we disdain God's authority,

that we rebel against his son.

Angels and people are different.

They're not meant for
physical relationships.

The word nephilim, neum means fallen.

So like these super impressive
mighty men, and yet they're

ungodly and the result of sin.

And so be, perhaps it was because
of this overt crossover, this angel

people mix something about this was
the straw that breaks the camel's

back and then we see God's justice on
display after generations of patience.

The Lord God saw that the wickedness of
humans, humanity was great on the earth

and that every intention of the thoughts.

Of the human heart was
only evil, continually.

And the Lord regretted that he
made humans on the earth and

it grieved him in his heart.

And the earth was violent and corrupt,
uh, excuse me, corrupt in God's sight.

And the earth was filled with
violence and God saw the earth and

behold it was corrupt for all flesh
had corrupted their way on earth.

Are those hard words to read?

Mm-hmm.

Um, there's something in our day that
doesn't like God to have emotion.

Um, and it's because the only
emotional lens we have is our own.

And we know that sometimes our
emotions are right, but not always.

Um, Jesus laughed.

Jesus cried.

Jesus turned over tables
and somehow didn't sin.

I can't turn over tables without
there being some sin in my heart.

I.

You are emotional because
you're made in the image of God.

Emotions are not bad.

Certain veins of Christianity
say Emotions are bad.

Emotions are not bad.

And because of the beautiful,
interconnected relationship

that we get to have with our
father are actions impact God.

So Jesus grieves and weeps over Jerusalem.

God grieves and weeps over the earth here.

Now, what's the difference in God's
emotion In ours a lot, but at least

sometimes our emotions are not patient.

Our emotions are sinful.

God as a perfect emotional being
has emotions, but his emotions are,

are consistent with his character.

God's emotions are based on his authority.

God's God's emotions
follow God's promises.

And so God is justified to feel grief

and to follow his promise of discipline

for the sin and brokenness of
the world because God is just,

God is patient, but God is just,

and also if you want to tip
the scale the other way.

In the midst of God's
justice, he's still patient.

He's still patient.

Even as God said, I will make an
end to all flesh, I'll blot man and

animals and birds off the earth.

God doesn't end all of life.

He doesn't blot a hundred percent
of creation off the earth.

Here's what God says, Noah found
favor in the side of the Lord.

Noah was a righteous man.

Blameless in his generation.

There's some of these words that
make should make us go like, what?

How Noah, what's it say?

Walked.

Walked with God

since God said, make yourself
an ark of of gopher wood.

For behold, skipping down a bit, I
will bring a flood of waters on the

earth to destroy all flesh in which
there's breath of life under heaven.

Everything that is on
the earth shall die, but.

I will establish my covenant with
you and you'll come into the arc.

You, your sons, your wife, and
your son's wife's with you.

God is just in carrying out the things
he said would happen because of said

and brokenness, and yet God is patient
and saves a remnant of his creation.

And there's lots of questions about this.

We'll get to a couple in a second,
but, but please don't miss this.

This is the, like, if you, if you
take anything out of this weird

and hard story, it's not nearly as
cute of a story as the children's

Bibles make Noah's arg out to be.

Don't miss this though, from this
moment through the rest of history

and across the world and in every
nation and tribe and tongue.

No matter how bad it gets, God always
makes a way to be saved for people

whose faith is in God in this promise.

Can I say that again?

From this moment, thousands and
thousands of years ago, through all

of history, however long it's gonna
last across the world in every nation,

tribe and tongue, no matter how bad
it gets, no matter how bad it gets.

Can it get bad?

Can get bad no matter how bad it gets.

God always makes a way for
those to be saved, who put their

faith in him and his promise.

That's really good news for today.

That's really good news for some of
the places that you're ministering,

whether it's in neighborhood in Fort
Worth, or a place that is really hard

in a country that's really hard.

So to dive in, flood, uh, dive in.

Three, three quick questions.

Why, why a flood?

It was unintentional, but it happened.

Um, why a flood, uh, water
throughout the scriptures and not

just in, in the Christian world.

Water purifies.

Water, cleans water, water
washes anew, and, and, and is

an image of starting afresh.

You may remember last week, Noah's
dad prophesied over Noah and said,

this one will bring a relief.

To the world.

This is not the way we would
necessarily choose for God

to bring relief to the world.

But there's something purifying about
water that cleanses and starts over.

But, but more than that, if you
go back to Genesis one, God is

creating order out of chaos.

He separates land and water.

What God's doing here is
de creation in some ways.

We've said this before, like Adam
and Eve's sin and brokenness, it

impacted their relationship with God.

But it also impacted the other
relationships like they were created, if

you remember, with perfect relationships
with each other, that they had a, a

fully God formed view of themselves.

They had a perfect relationship
with the world around them.

Turns out sin impacted
all of those things.

And so the flood is, is
essentially a full reboot.

Of all of those relationships, of all
creation, our sin impacts not just us

and not just our relationship with God.

It impacts the world around us.

And I don't know a better place to
see that than Genesis six and seven.

Second question, why did God
save Noah and his family?

What are some words that
God used about Noah?

He is righteous.

Is anyone righteous?

No.

Is anyone blameless?

Are you blameless?

He had a favor with God.

He walked with God well, Genesis
six is, Genesis six is talking

about is, is, is not a full 100%.

I mean, he's human after all.

But how?

How bad have we been seeing the world
get, if you've been here the last

couple weeks gets real, real bad.

So by comparison,

compared to the rest of the world,
Noah is so much more righteous.

Noah is so much more blameless.

Obviously Noah's broken, sinful.

Yes.

But, but the principle that, that
God continues to draw out, and we

talked about this last week, is, is
just like we saw with Seth and his

line, Adam and E have had a third son.

If you're unfamiliar, um, he
just never gets mentioned.

Um, which is weird 'cause the
youngest is often the favorite.

But, um, as with Seth, who
pursued and obeyed God.

Noah pursues and obeys God.

It's not about his actions.

That's not what saved him.

Hebrews 11, well past
Jesus', time on earth.

The writer Hebrew says, by what?

Faith?

Faith, Noah being warned of God's being
worn by God concerning events as yet

unseen in reverent fear constructed an
arc for the saving of his household.

By this, he became an heir of the
righteousness that comes by faith.

Faith.

What is it that saved Noah?

Well, the whole world around Noah was
putting their faith in everything,

but God, Noah remains steadfast.

Noah remained faithful, and
so in Genesis and today and

forevermore, until Jesus comes back.

Salvation always starts with faith in God.

Mm-hmm.

It's not about actions.

It's not about obedience.

It's not about comparative righteousness.

It's not about doing just a
little better than my neighbor.

It's not about starts in here.

Salvation always starts with faith in God.

So why the flood?

Why did God save Noah?

Last question.

Why did God save animals,
kids in the room.

Which animals are you
most glad that God saved?

I.

What's your favorite animal?

Turtles.

Turtles.

Land.

Turtles were on the yard.

Sea.

Yeah.

They didn't destroy the sea.

Sea creatures for whatever reason.

So what's your favorite animals?

Kids.

Dogs.

Dogs.

You can just shout it out.

Uh,

I glad Pandas haven't got extinct.

Glad pandas aren't extinct.

Yeah, absolutely.

Any other favorites?

Adults in the room.

Any animals?

You're excited that God didn't wipe out?

I like horses.

Say it again.

We like horses.

Horses.

You like horses?

Okay.

Giraffes.

Giraffes.

Great.

Bison.

Bison.

Bison.

Nice.

Yeah.

So why did God save animals?

He did save animals.

We read about it a minute ago.

Um, every living thing of all flesh,
bring two of each sword onto the arc.

Keep them alive with you.

They shall be male and female.

You get why?

God's gonna reboot things, right?

So, uh, take with you every sort of
food that is to be eaten in store, which

will serve as food for you and for them.

Since all creation was decreed, is being
decreed here, then just as God preserved

a remnant of people in his patience
and in his grace, God is preserving

a remnant of the rest of creation.

All that broken, like it impacts all
the domino effects, all the brokenness

that our sin caused, God is just.

And yet God is preserving
remnants of everything he created.

This is not an easy chapter.

There's more to say about all this, but
if we want to zoom back out, God and

his goodness, Hebrews just told us this.

God and his goodness announced
both his patience and his

justice to know I'm going.

To cause a flood on the
earth based outta my justice.

But I'm going to show you how to build an
arc because of my patience and my grace.

Similarly, God shows his patience and
his justice through through the rest of

history and through the rest of the Bible.

Again, these two things among
many others, but these two

things are true at the same time.

God is just, and God is patient,
but put yourself in Noah's shoes.

This is huge news.

How would you respond to this?

Terror

privilege,

gladness.

It's the world you're living in.

You see how bad it is?

Preemptive survivor's guilt.

How do you, how would you respond?

Here's how I responded.

Noah did this.

It says Genesis 22.

He did all that God commanded.

How did Noah respond?

Noah obeyed God

in a lot of movies or kids'
bibles and frankly, a lot of

ancient Hebrew Jewish theologians.

Um, you see this image of Noah
building the arc while all of his

neighbors are mocking him for it.

That's not in the Bible,

but you can get there.

And if that's true, Noah still
obeyed God in the midst of mockery.

This arc was like 150, uh, no, sorry, 1.5,

excuse me, 1.5.

Football field long.

Uh, it's American football,
two global soccer fields.

Long, um, global football fields long.

Um, five stories tall
so far, as we can tell.

Probably took decades.

Didn't have machines,
probably took decades.

For those decades.

Noah obeyed God, it a
strong case to be made.

That rain had never fallen on
the earth before the flood.

God had separated the waters below
from the waters above, and so at the

start of the flood, it would feel
like literally the sky's falling.

He never experienced that before.

In the midst of all this, Noah obeyed God.

So we fast forward to today and.

And follow the imagery a little bit.

We have each had times in our lives
that feels like the sky's falling.

Yes, that feels like
everything's falling apart.

That feels like order
is devolving into chaos.

You feel any of that today?

Have you felt that ever?

Family's disintegrate and
it's ridiculously sad.

There's physical diagnoses and pain.

Geopolitical things terrify us.

Many nations laws outright
reject God and disobey God and

put Christians in harm's way.

Many others, put other people in
harm's way and God's a God of life.

What do we do when we face those things?

Noah is an example to us in those moments
as literally his world was falling apart

and everyone he'd ever known outside
of his family was about to be gone.

Noah obey God.

So following Jesus gets
you mocked or worse.

Noah's example would encourage
and exhort you, obey God,

the shifting moral codes
in the society around you.

You don't love everything that whatever
government you live under orders.

Or God calls you to some mission in
ministry that seems crazy to the world,

or maybe even to other followers of Jesus.

Noah's example would exhort you obey God

if we claim to follow Jesus.

Are we willing to fight
the tide of the world?

Noah's example, exhorts us, obey God

and as we do.

I need, I need us to understand this.

God may not save us from
some ruined refutation.

God may not save us from losing
a business or a relationship

or a family or physical pain.

All of that and more might occur if you
fight the tide of the world and obey God.

But all of that stuff,
judge, it's temporary.

It is real.

Hear me on that.

But it's temporary.

'cause two things can be
true at the same time.

God doesn't promise an arc to save
you from the flood of the world

in its ways.

But because God is patient and gracious,
he saves you from a greater and eternal

flood, which is the flood of God's.

Just discipline for yourself.

That's the flood that matters.

So last week we said Seth and Noah
offered this alternative path to the

way of Kane and his parents before him,
Adam and Eve, we said last week that,

that Seth and Noah are foreshadows.

Of a, of a true and greater and
later son that God would send named

Jesus, who would save us from sin
and brokenness and would save us from

the ways of Adam and Eve and Kay.

Similarly, the arc itself is
a foreshadow of Jesus as well.

Jesus invites us in and saves us
from the flood of God's righteous

justice for your sin, which is death.

Your death will not likely be
as shocking as a global flood.

Have God promised, we'll see next week,
not to flood the whole earth again.

But because of sin, even if you're more
righteous and more blessed than your

neighbors like Noah was, you two will die
one day as Noah did because we still sin.

And death is the discipline for sin and
death leads to separation from God, and

Jesus is the only way out of God's justice

and into restored relationship.

Paul the Apostle summarizes it so simply.

The wages of sin is death, but
the free gift of God is eternal

life in Christ Jesus Lord.

So as we wrap up, Noah's story
points us towards some choice.

This is kind of the climax of Genesis
three through six, this pattern of

everything getting worse and worse
and worse, and, and it's the climax

of this contrast between the way
of God and the way of the world.

Adam Eve, Cain Laic from last week.

And so the choice, the
question is, which path?

Which path do you follow?

Another way to say it is who
or what are you going to obey?

Noah obeyed God.

Do you obey yourself?

Do you obey your urges?

Do you obey your sometimes
impatient and sinful emotions?

Do you obey others?

Do you obey some cultural norm in
the tide of the world around us?

Do you obey some politician or
podcaster that you're obsessed with,

or do you obey God?

Jesus will say thousands of years later.

There are many paths that lead to death.

There's one path that leads to life.

How is it possible to
choose the right path?

Followers of Jesus?

It's saying, I'm looking away from all
that other stuff, and even as I don't

take myself out of the world, I trust God.

That's where my, that's where my faith is.

My faith is in God.

I'm satisfied with God.

God is enough.

I will obey God.

That's what we see in Noah.

And frankly, that's what the spirit offers
to give every single person, whether

you're a follower of Jesus or not, that
satisfaction, that faith for today, the

blessing of obedience so that when the
sky falls and creation unravels and angels

and physical beings, copulate and sin,

Noah finds faith in God.

Noah trusts God.

Noah obeys God.

And as he does, God saves him.

And you can read Genesis seven.

Nicole read part of it.

God led Adam, uh, Adam.

God led Noah and his family onto the ark.

God somehow caused two of
every animal onto the ark.

God shut the door of the ark.

It's important.

And God calls rain to fall.

For 40 days and 40 nights

and the waters rose, 15 cubits
above the highest mountain,

and that's where we're gonna
end The story today is hard,

even in hard things.

God is being true to his word.

So two, two things are
true at the same time.

It is just to disciplines and God is just.

To discipline sin.

He did.

He does.

He will do that.

And also God is patient and
he's gracious to provide a way

out of the flood of judgment.

And he did.

And he does.

And he will do that.

Yeah.

For Noah, it was temporary way out.

It was an orc for you.

For me, for everyone who trusts
Jesus more than the ways of the

world, it's an eternal way out Named.

Jesus our Lord.

And that's what we celebrate at communion.

So if you're not usually with us,
we always wrap up the teaching

time by coming to the table.

Um, every table in the room
has communion elements on it.

And the way we do this is to
take it, um, there's cracker,

there's the juice and wine.

Juice is lighter, wine is darker.

Um, if you will take it, uh, dip it and
then, and then go back to your seat.

But, but here's what we're doing in
part, as we take communion, it's a

declaration that we can't save ourselves.

Left to our own devices, we're
gonna follow the path of Adam

and Eve and Cain and Laic, and
frankly, the rest of the world.

And so our declaration as
we take communions, we need

Jesus the true and better.

Noah, the Son who comes the true
and better arc in him, we're saved.

We need Jesus to be our way out of sin
and death and judgment every single day.

And through the spirit, God patiently
shows up every single day and saves

us more and more and over and over.