One Shot

Introduction:

A. Sometimes in life you only get one shot...

1. Like the well-known statement, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.”

2. Sometimes you only get one shot when a grizzly bear is running right at you.

3. Sometimes you only get one shot to hit the buzzer-beating 3 point shot.

4. Sometimes you only get one shot when you are trying to ask a girl for a date.

5. Sometimes you only get one shot when you are making a sales pitch.

B. There is a story told of an airman who was assigned to the induction center, where he advised new recruits about their government benefits, especially their GI insurance.

1. It wasn't long before a higher-up noticed that the airman had almost a 100% record for insurance sales, which had never happened before.

2. Rather than ask the airman about this, the superior stood in the back of the room and listened to the airman’s sales pitch.

3. The airman explained the basics of the GI Insurance to the new recruits, and then said, “If you have GI Insurance and go into battle and are killed, the government has to pay $200,000 to your beneficiaries. If you don't have GI insurance, and you go into battle and are killed, the government only has to pay a maximum of $6000.”

4. Then the airman concluded, “Now, which guys do you think the government is going to send into battle first? Not the ones who bought the insurance!”

C. Today I want us to realize that this is a unique moment in time and that this may be the only opportunity you and I may have to be here in this place.

1. For you see, none of us know what the future holds.

2. We may never pass this way again (like the Seals and Crofts song from the 1970s).

3. Life as we know it can change in an instant.

4. We see that every day in the news.

a. There are super-storms, like the typhoon in the Philippines that permanently change life.

b. Every day we hear about shootings in the streets of our cities, and now they even occur regularly in schools and shopping malls and movie theaters.

c. Every time we get into a car, there is a chance that we will be in an accident – they occur on every major highway every single day.

d. And then of course, there is the frailty of life – our bodies don’t last forever – and sometimes the end of life comes much sooner than we would think.

e. In reality, no one is too young to die of a heart attack, stroke, or cancer.

5. Please understand that I’m not trying to be morbid - I’m just pointing out how life really is.

6. We are being presumptuous if we think that we can guarantee that all of us will be back here next year, or even next week, for that matter!

7. And then, of course, there is the promised return of Jesus, which could happen at any moment.

D. And so, with all of this in mind, today…this moment, may be our one shot.

1. If I knew that this is the only chance you would ever have to hear a message that could make a difference in your life, then what should I share?

2. If I knew that is the only shot I would have to share with you what I believe are the most important things, then what would I talk about?

3. This sermon is my attempt to tell you what I think are the most important things for everyone to know, and the most important things for everyone to do. The first important thing to know is…

I. There is a God

A. I believe with all my heart that there is a God who is the creator of everything we see and know.

1. I know that it takes faith to believe there is a God, but I believe that it takes more faith to believe there isn’t a God, than to believe there is a God.

2. When I look at the vastness, and the complexity, and obvious design of the universe and of all living beings, I don’t know how someone can conclude that it all happened by accident.

3. Atheistic scientists tell us that the entire universe just happened spontaneously from mysterious power and particles – Known as the Big Bang Theory.

4. Every living thing, plant and animal, is made up from six basic elements: carbon, hydrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, nitrogen and oxygen.

a. Scientists and others, who reject the possibility of a God, suggest that these elements collided with one another under proper conditions.

b. As a result, amino acids were formed and life began.