Are You Secure In Christ?

ARE YOU SECURE IN CHRIST?

If there is one thing that the tragedy in Walkerton has taught people it is that we really take our water for granted. We never thought twice about taking a drink from our taps or taking a bath – or letting our kids play in the sprinklers – but this Ecoli thing has all of us scared. It shook up our confidence in the system, shook up our confidence in the water controls in place, it shook up our confidence in the people in charge. Truly this tragedy in Walkerton has upset a lot of people, in more ways than one and has had a ripple effect in all the communities across our province as people stopped taking their access to clean water for granted.

What has probably been the greatest fallout from this tragedy is not the months that the people of Walkerton have had to wait and will probably wait for the water system to be cleaned up and for the water to be declared "safe". It is not the flared tempers and the ruined relationships with government officials. It is not even the tremendous financial losses incurred. The greatest fallout from this tragedy is the tremendous loss of security now felt among the people of Walkerton. They can no longer feel secure about the place they live, the businesses they own, the life they live in that town.

This security issue is a big thing in our human lives. We struggle through our existence here on Earth for the ever constant search for complete security! We want to have secure families, a secure income, a secure retirement, a secure world, a secure life. From the time we are babies our life is shaped by "how secure" we are. No matter who you are or from what walk of life you have I am confident to say tonight that there are people here who either are feeling very insecure about something in their life right now and/or are struggling to find and keep secure about some area in their life.

You see, the truth is – even though we live in a relatively "secure" part of the world, there is still so much unpredictable things that go on that make our lives hang on the circumstances of what tomorrow brings.

IN the cartoon "Peanuts" Linus says of his security blanket "Only one yard of outing flannel stands between me and a nervous breakdown"

Indeed many people have had nervous breakdowns because their security has been swiped from under their feet. The problem is, there isn’t too much in this world that we can find complete security in! I don’t know if you have noticed it or not – but there has been a tremendous increase in the amount of bottled water being stocked in the shelves of grocery stores – not only in our area but across the country. If you look at the daily news stories there is lots for us to feel insecure about. Sometimes I feel really insecure about the price of gas!

Here are some safety tips for living in our "secure" world – Don’t ride in an auto – they cause 20 percent of all fatal accidentsDo not stay at home – 17 percent of all accidents happen there.Do not walk in the street – 15 percent of all accidents happen to pedestrians.Do not travel by air, rail or water – 16 percent of all accidents result from these activitiesOnly .001 percent of all accidents happen in church!

We can’t find security in relationships, we can’t find security in our possessions, we can’t find security where we live, we can’t find security sometimes even in ourselves! Perhaps one of the greatest areas in which people find themselves facing insecurity is when we start to talk about death. Nobody likes to talk about death – you know why? Because a lot of people don’t know what happens when we die and hence there is no security in it.

Tonight, I’d like to take a few moments to tell you about how you can be secure in your life and also be secure about your future after this life. Tonight, I want to take a few moments to tell you about a security that is not found anywhere in this world. It is a security that far outweighs all the insecurities of our world and the times we live in and exists for eternity. It is a security that you can have.

Tonight I’d like to share with you the good news of Jesus Christ. Immediately when I say that name there are all sorts of different thoughts rising up in your minds. For some of you that name is nothing more than a swear word, for some of you that name invokes a feeling of, "Oh no, here we go again – another preacher telling me to get a religion"; For some of you the name of Jesus brings up memories of a youthful acquaintance that you have grown "out of"; But for some of you and for me this name means so much more – this name means forgiveness, this name means peace, this name means love, this name means strength, this name means fulfillment, this name means contentment, this name means joy AND THIS NAME MEANS ETERNAL SECURITY.