Sermon Central
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God Our Refuge
Contributed by John Perry on Jul 13, 2011 (message contributor)
Summary: We all have to live in a troubled world & to make matters worse we all have personal troubles we have to work through. God's plan however is that we would fine a place of refuge in all the troubles of life.
Bunbury
Sun am
10/072011
“God our refuge”
Intro: *** The famed survival expert Bear Grylls was shooting a survival show in Norway not too long ago teaching people how to survive in some of the worst weather conditions.
Parts of Norway are known for being amongst the wettest places in the world. The support team w/ Bear Grylls used modern technology to simulate driving rain w/ about a 40 mph wind. The point Grylls was making is that in extreme weather if you don’t get shelter & get it fast you can perish very quickly.
Using thermal technology they showed you the body heat of Bear Grylls b/4 the rain & wind began.
As you’d expect his body retained a lot of heat but then the rain & wind was turned on & very quickly the thermal imaging showed how he was losing body temperature fast. Amongst the howling wind he began building a shelter …… somewhere to take refuge, all the while explaining that if you didn’t do that in such harsh conditions you could die very quickly.
Drenched to the bone & shivering Bear Grylls sat in his shelter protected from the worst of the wind & rain & went about the business of trying to light a fire.
There’s no doubt about the fact that in the elements of the wild if you don’t find some place of refuge you can perish very quickly.
But no less true is the fact that in the elements that challenge our spiritual wellbeing unless you can find refuge you can also perish very quickly.
Knowing that we are going to be exposed to those things that wear us down & out God promises to be our refuge in times of trouble.
And it’s this thought we want to explore t/n ….. the hope of God being our refuge in times of trouble.
I want to minister a message I’ve called ‘God our refuge’.
Text: Psalms 9:9-10 (NKJV) 9 The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble. 10And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.
# 1. Living in a troubled world.
A. Bear Grylls may be able to teach you how to survive in the wild but we need God to teach us how to survive in a troubled world!
a. Think about the world we are called to live our lives in.
i. Consider the Bible’s description of life in this world….
Job 5:7 (NKJV) 7 Yet man is born to trouble, As the sparks fly upward.
Job 14:1 (NKJV) 1 “Man who is born of woman Is of few days and full of trouble.
ii. Jesus speaking about the things that concern us & rob us of our peace said …
Matthew 6:34 (NKJV) 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
iii. To see that this is all true all you have to do is open your eyes …..
b. Think about the trouble that fills the world right now as I speak.
i. Jesus said there would be wars & rumours of wars ….
Mark 13:7 (NKJV) 7But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.
*** We have just witnessed a few months ago the incredible events in Japan. 23,000 + dead or missing.
ii. On the front of a spiritual dynamic we read in the W of G ……..
Matthew 24:12 (NKJV) 12And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
*** Many of you have already watched the Muslim Demographics video on Youtube – scary!
*** Just a few days ago people were openly celebrating on the streets of NY city as the state paved the way for homosexuals to be married.
*** Greece, Ireland & Portugal have b/co practically financially insolvent & there are serious concerns about the welfare of the Euro.
*** Aids has reach such epidemic proportions in some African nations that there are now reports of negative population growth.
*** There is turmoil amongst the nations ….. as nations like Pakistan / Iran either acquire or move towards acquiring nuclear capability.
B. In addition to all this we are all having to deal w/ trouble at a personal level.
a. The troubles of life come at us from every angle.
i. We are living in days of unprecedented pressures on marriages & family life….. marriages are breaking up at an alarming rate.
ii. Children are rebelling against parents at a young age & on a scale never b/4 seen.
iii. Financial pressures that were unheard of in previous generations …… we are now living in a day where surviving on a single income is fast b/co an impossibility.
