The "Closer"

Man, I want to thank by co-hort in crime here at Washington St., Brad Sullivan, for the great job he did in "closing" my recent sermon series from Genesis this past Sunday. Its great to get away for the weekend every now and then, but I sure do hate being away from my church family and the opportunity to preach. I did so this past weekend, however, confident that Brad would do a great job filling in and wrapping up some of the themes we've been exploring lately... I wasn't disappointed. I rushed up to the sound room this morning to grab the CD of yesterday's sermon and then listened to it over lunch. Man, outstanding and challenging! Thanks, Brad. We really do have the best youth minister around... (he's going to kill me for stealing this pic of him off of his Facebook page!)
The whole purpose of our study thru the book of "beginnings" hasn't been to wallow in the past, but to remind ourselves of WHO WE ARE and WHERE WE CAME FROM so that we would be better prepared to face the future! I believe God is still doing great things at Washington Street and that he wants to continue to do great things in each of our lives... but will we be ready to face the challenges ahead? That's the thought I want us to explore this coming Sunday. And I am VERY VERY interested in hearing what you have to say. Here are some questions that I would like to hear back from you on...

• How do you feel about the future of the church here at Washington Street?
• What would you say are some of the biggest challenges that we as a church face?
• What specific ideas do you have that would help us in the future?

Our Elders, deacons & ministers will be meeting together soon for our annual Leadership Summit to discuss just some of these very things. We value your input and suggestions.

Babel

An unfinished skyscraper in the Gulf state of Dubai has become the world's tallest building, at 141 storeys, its developers say. Emaar Properties said the 512m (1,680ft) Burj Dubai is now taller than Taiwan's 508m (1,667ft) Taipei 101. It is thought Burj Dubai will eventually be 693m (2,275ft) tall.

"Burj Dubai has now reached 141 stories, more stories than any other building in the world," the company said in a statement. There is speculation that, spire included, the final height could be more than 800m, but Emaar is keeping structural details secret.

It's curious to me after reading through Genesis 11 again that we're still building buildings all these years after Babel and still trying to reach toward the heavens. I did a Google search on the world's tallest buildings and learned that there's quite a competition going. Every year it seems a new building beats the record and arguments are raged about exactly WHAT is being measured. Does the spire count? What about the cell phone towers on top? Everybody wants theirs to be the tallest building. And they want to put their name on it. Funny.

Given all this interest in tall buildings... it makes me think again about the tower at Babel. What exactly was the problem? It sounds to me like a good thing that the people were able to come together and building something so monumental using such archaic tools and methods. I look back at history and see some of the great architecture from some of the great civilizations of antiquity and wonder... what was the problem? It is beautiful, much of it. Why did God get so upset at Babel... and why did he confuse their languages? THAT one especially get me! If it weren't for Babel I could go to Honduras and order a hamburger and be understood! Aargh!

This Sunday we're going to be looking together at Gen. 11 and the story of Babel. Read it again this week and let me know what you think...

Flood

To be honest I’m not sure what is more difficult… to preach a text that is familiar to all of us or a text that isn’t.  If it’s just the same, I think I would rather preach on one that nobody has ever read before, actually.  That way, who’s going to argue with me?  But this Sunday as a part of my “In the beginning” sermon series I come to Genesis 6 and the story of Noah and the flood.  It’s going to be a great challenge on the one hand because it’s a story that we all know!  I mean, it’s probably the first story (other than maybe Adam & Eve) that I remember from Sunday school as a kid.  I know the story… Noah, a righteous man (in fact the only one of his kind in those days) is instructed by God to build a big boat.  He does.  He follows the instructions meticulously.  Then he loads up the animals “two by two” and down comes the rain… just as God said it would.  The world is destroyed.  Noah and his family are saved.  Great story!  What’s next?  You see the challenge, right?  It’s a challenge precisely because we all think we know the story.  I can just imagine the snoring I will induce on Sunday when I say, “Let’s all talk about Noah…he was a righteous man.” 

 

On the other hand, I wonder if there might be something I have missed?  I wonder if the story’s familiarity has kept me from seeing the point of it all?  Why was the flood necessary?  Why did God act then to enact judgment on the world?  Might it be time for another one?  How would this story have encouraged the Hebrews as they were preparing to enter in to the land of Promise following their Egyptian bondage?  More importantly, what does the story have to say to those of us living in the twenty first century?  Surely it is more than a children’s tale designed to make us appreciate rainbows!  What do you think?  What is the significance of the biblical flood story for Christians today?

Rick Burgess... "A Father's Heart"

Part Two

Part Three