Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Good morning and welcome back!

I thought that this morning we would be returning to our Journey Through Matthew, but the Lord has different plans for us this morning.

So, next week, Lord willing, we will be returning to our series, but for this morning I’d like for you to start turning in your Bibles to .

This morning, being New Year’s Eve we are actually going to be looking at the subject of A New Day.

Now, I’m not going to be asking you to make a bunch of New Year’s Resolutions that none of us will keep anyway.

There’s no need in us all lying today.

No, today’s purpose is to get us to look at the newness in each and every day that we have.

When you start spending time in hospitals, doctors offices, nursing homes, and funeral homes, you start to realize what a blessing it is just to have another day that you are able to get up and go where you want and do what you want.

In fact, reminds us that . . .

And it is the second part of that verse that we sometimes have a hard time remembering.

We know that God has made all things and has made every single day, but we often forget to rejoice and be glad in it.

And lots of times it is because the day is not what we expect it to be.

Either we are sick or someone we love is sick, or things have just not gone the way we thought they should.

But the simple fact that God is in control and that God understands and knows what we are going through is enough to cause us to rejoice.

We can have confidence in knowing that if we are God’s child, God is with us.

God will deliver us, either from the trouble or through the trouble.

We don’t know how but we do know that God is there.

We also know that . . .

A New Day will always come.

Whether that day is here or over there, it will come.

And we should rejoice in that fact.

And this morning, I’d like us to take a closer look at Noah and his New Day.

So, if you have found in your Bible, I’d invite you to stand with me as I read the first five verses of the chapter.

Again, that is . . .

Scripture Focus

God Remembered Noah

Now the very first thing I want us to pay attention to in this passage is the very first four words of . . .

But God remembered Noah . . .

I believe that this is very, very, important for us to understand and grasp.

We have to remember what was going on here.

The entire surface of the earth was covered by water.

Absolutely no dry land anywhere.

Other than the animals and Noah’s family that were on the Ark, there were also no people.

Everything and everybody else was dead and gone.

And Noah was not a young man at this point either.

In fact in we learn that . . .

Genesis 7:

So he was no spring chicken when all of this was taking place.

And after all of this, here Noah and his family is, floating in this big old boat full of stinking animals and where is God?

Because this wasn’t just a flash flood that happened overnight and it was over.

The Bible tells us that . . .

Genesis 7:17-

So, not only did it rain for more than a month, Noah witnessed the death and destruction of everything and everybody that was not on the ark, this flood lasted for 150 days, or about 5 months.

For 5 months, Noah saw nothing but death and destruction.

And not only that but he couldn’t even get off the Ark because he couldn’t open the door.

Notice it says that the Lord shut him in.

The Lord was on the only one who could also let him out.

So here we was stuck for 5 months.

I know everyone has different experiences with their family visiting for the holidays, how would you like to be stuck in a boat with them for 5 months?

So, naturally after all this time Noah probably began to wonder a bit about where God was at and why God hadn’t come back yet.

Why the flood waters were still there and what in the world God was doing in general.

And a lot of times we feel the same way don’t we?

It may not be a physical flood, but it seems like all the problems and challenges we face come flooding it at one time doesn’t it?

And we feel like we are just sort of out there on our own, doing our own thing being tossed to and fro by the waves of the ocean we are on.

Even when we are working for God, we sometimes feel like God has put us out here on an ark and shut us in and we are trapped-can’t escape, can’t get away.

God has shut us in and disappeared and we begin to wonder where God is.

And when we begin to wonder, our faith begins to waver a bit, doesn’t it?

So, we can identify with Noah here.

But here is the good news, just like God remember Noah AND all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, God remembers you and me.

Just like God cared for Noah, God also cares for us.

Remember what God told Jeremiah . . .

And the same applies to all of God’s creation.

We are created with love, care, and compassion.

Jesus reminds us that . . .

So, when Satan starts to put that seed of doubt in your head and starts to tell you that God is out to lunch, that He is nowhere to be found, remind him of who Your Father is.

God does care and God does know exactly where you are and what you are going through.

And even though today may be a bad day, tomorrow is coming.

A New Day is coming.

Look at the rest of our passage . . . .

A New Day

Genesis 8:1-

Now, what I want you to notice though is that God didn’t just do everything all at once.

Noah didn’t just wake up one morning and the whole earth was completely restored.

It was a process.

The wind began to blow and the waters began to recede.

The springs stopped flowing.

The floodgates from heaven stooped.

The rain stopped falling.

The Bible says that the water receded steadily but only at the end of 150 days the water had gone down.

And it is the same thing that happens with us as well.

Most of the time our deliverance is not immediate.

Sometimes, many times, it is a process that takes place over time.

I don’t know exactly why God does it this way, but I suspect it is to teach us something.

When we see God working each and every day in our lives, slowing and methodically, it teaches us to put our faith and our trust in God and God alone.

We begin to realize that all of our attempts and solving our own problems don’t cut it, and that God is our only hope and our only deliverance.

Because even though the water stopped flowing after 150 days and the recession began, Noah was still floating out there.

There was a glimmer of hope but. . . .

Genesis 8:4-

So, it was the middle of the 7th month before the Ark even came to rest and stopped floating around and then another 3 months before the mountaintops could even be seen.

So, we are talking almost a year at this point!

But even at that it wasn’t over . . .

Genesis 8:6-

And, it was only after the earth was completely dry that . . .

Genesis 8:

And Noah came out but what did he come out to?

An empty planet.

So, even though it was a New Day and God had delivered Noah and his family, the challenge was not over.

Noah and his family had to now re-establish humanity.

And what I want us to realize is that even though God does deliver us and even though tomorrow will be a New Day, and even a New Year, we can’t sit back and rest.