Purpose of the message: To encourage believers to release control of their lives to GOD, to stop living for the temporary and reach for the eternal.
Scriptures:
Hebrews 11:6-7
11:6. Real fellowship with God cannot exist without faith. Two convictions must characterize the lives of believers. First, they must believe that he exists. Anyone wanting to commune with God must have the deep conviction that God is real. Second, God’s servants must believe that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Faith is not selfish; rather, faith has confidence in a God of love and goodness. These two convictions must provide a bedrock foundation for the lives of Christians. It would be foolish to look for a God who does not exist or for one who—if he did exist—would punish you if you found him.
11:7. Noah (Gen. 6–9) showed his faith in response to a specific warning from God. He took the warning to heart, built an ark, and saved his family. Noah’s act of building the ark condemned the scoffing unbelief of his generation and provided visible evidence that Noah believed God. Noah’s contemporaries must have been merciless in their ridicule of this “foolish” man who was building an ark so far inland.
In building the ark, Noah became an heir of faith righteousness, a theme echoing Paul’s discussion of the subject (Rom. 9:30; 10:6).
Gensis 6:6-11 -Noah was faithful in faithless times
Luke 17:26–27 The days of Jesus return will be like the days of Noah
Matthew 24:9–13 Times are going to get bad
Colossians 3:2–7 We must find the meaning of Life in the Spiritual things of Jesus Christ
Matthew 6:34-Stop Worrying and trust Jesus
2 Timothy 2:3–4- Don’t get lost in the smoke fight the good fight
Romans 8:6–9 Elevate your thinking
Matthew 10:39 It’s time to let go and let GOD
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Life is a vapor (James 4:14)—this life is brief, and its true meaning is found in what carries into eternity.
• Near-death experiences often lead people to live with greater eternal seriousness.
• Jesus offers abundant life, yet we miss it by focusing solely on temporal concerns.
• We try to control outcomes, but true surrender to God is the goal—He leads.
• Sifting processes are allowed by God to move us from self-reliance to dependence on Him.
• We don’t know tomorrow, but faith means trusting the One who does.
• Change perspective: stop living for the temporary and start living for eternity.
• Worldly distractions—politics, affairs—can obscure God’s presence. We must let go of earthly entanglements.
• Spiritual reality is often unseen—scripture affirms that the eternal is beyond the visible.
• The carnal mind cannot please God—good works without heart alignment are meaningless.
• Good works should flow from love for God, not to impress Him—otherwise, they don’t count for eternity.
• Seek things above, not things on earth—get out of the “smoke” of the temporal and fix your eyes on eternity
