Baker Heights church, Abilene, Tex., hears Noah sermons in April
(BNc) — After the botched Hollywood version of the Noah story, preachers and teachers are setting the record straight. Seeing the moment as an opportunity to teach the gospel, Christians are taking on the challenge of presenting the truth about Noah.
BNc asked several people how and why they were dealing the the topic in their sermons and classes.
“I’m preaching a sermon series during the month of April on Noah. Since the story of Noah is in the public spotlight so much right now, there’s no better time to discuss who Noah really was and how the story applies to our lives today. Our congregational theme right now is, ‘Taking the Next Step by Faith,’ and this series will highlight how Noah was a man of faith (Hebrews 11:7). Despite the way Hollywood has mischaracterized Noah, the Bible teaches us Noah was a man who ‘walked with God’ (Genesis 6:9), and we should strive to walk with God as well.” Wes McAdams, preaching minister with the Baker Heights church in Abilene, Tex.
“I’m using our bulletin to present detailed reviews from sound brethren on the movie. Then I reference those in a lesson and talk about the biblical account versus man’s view, making application to what are our individual and collective beliefs.” Dave Dugan, Cache, Okla., congregation.
Steve Higginbotham, pulpit minister with the Karns congregation in Knoxville, Tenn., had the fullest reply.
“My wife and I attended the movie. (We were the only two people in the entire theater.) We wanted to see the movie firsthand so that I wouldn’t be influenced by another’s portrayal that might have been skewed. We wanted to make this lesson available in streaming video, audio only, and outline on YouTube, our Facebook pages, and our church website and involve the congregation in spreading the word.
“I had several goals in mind as to why I preached on this topic.
- Relevancy. Everyone seemed to be talking about this movie, and I wanted to weigh in on it. The several dozen members at Karns helped advertise this sermon to their facebook and email contacts. I wanted to use this as a tool to make contacts.
- Correction. For many people, especially the biblically illiterate, ‘perception is reality.’ What they see on TV or at the movies may be all they know about this Bible story, and if the story isn’t presented accurately, they then embrace a perverted view of this biblical account. Furthermore, if you pervert the biblical narrative of the flood, then you potentially pervert Jesus’ teaching on his second coming (Matthew 24:37-39), and Peter’s teaching on baptism (1 Peter 3:21), and the nature of saving faith as described by the writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 11:7).
- Application. I wanted to use the factual story of the ark as a backdrop to teach some much needed truths about God’s patience, his grace, his judgment, and the kind of faith we need.”
2014-04-09 at 10:29 am
This past Sunday evening, I had a lesson on Noah. The movie was mentioned in the introduction and I said I had heard mixed reviews but that I had not seen the movie, but what I did in the lesson was just to read the text of Genesis 6-9 with a few comments that were relevant to scenes that I have seen from the movie and reviews that I have read so that the church would be reminded of what the Bible actually says about Noah. They then could see the movie if they chose to and make their own comparisons.
2014-04-09 at 11:19 am
It is a movie. It was not someone standing there during ark construction with a video camera. Are any of you going to interrupt Noah with Palm Sunday and Easter? Or will Noah supersede Moses on Easter Sunday this year?
2014-04-09 at 1:37 pm
Christ is first and stands ahead of Moses and Noah. Easter and Palm Sunday have no standing at all! Many sermons have been preached about the resurrection of Jesus and many of these have been preached on “Easter.” Truth is my aim!
2014-04-10 at 4:31 pm
This movie gives us all opportunity to share God’s Word with others. One fellow this week was on a rampage about all the “Christian nut-cases” objecting to the movie. When I asked him some probing questions, he started ranting that the Bible agrees with some points that I found particularly offensive. I opened a Bible, handed it to him, asked him to read the text & to show me where it says what he was affirming. What he found was the text says the opposite of what he was affirming! He then wanted to know how I knew some of the things I was telling him and asked if I would discuss more Bible topics with him. I believe we need to take advantage of such opportunities. Re: “Palm Sunday” & “Easter” I don’t spend much pulpit time talking about the errors of the various “religious” holidays. If we have visitors on those days, I usually just mention that the Lord’s Day is special to Christians and that I will be happy to discuss what the Bible says on any subject and proceed to preach the message of Christ.