Let It Snow!
Intro: Snow Humor
Name of Snow Couple...Willy Melt & Betty Will
Snow kids are a chip off the old block.
A Snowman is a perfect man...well-rounded, and even has his own broom.
How are snowmen and real men alike...they are all a little flaky!
Know what the snowman said as the temperature began to climb? I’m losing my head!
One snowman looked over to another one and said, “Do you smell carrots?”
What do you call a snowman in the summer? A puddle
What do cool snowmen wear on their heads? Ice caps
Where do snowmen go to dance? Snowballs
How do snowmen travel to the snow-field? By icicle
-We usually look at snow for its beauty, for its recreational purposes- skiing, snowboarding etc, but seldom do we think of snow as being a precious commodity. About 20 % of the world’s land mass is covered permanently by snow. In the N. Hemisphere it is about 40 %. Fresh snow falls on 1 out of every 4 square miles of dry land each year. 1/3 of the world’s water used for irrigation comes from snow. In the Western U.S. nearly 75 % of water for irrigation comes from snow. Snowfall flows on to the scene in the most useful times of the year. It is stored in higher elevations until late spring and early summer, then it melts in time to help in the irrigation of crops. It is snow that supplies the great rivers of the west....the Rio Grande, the Colorado, the Missouri, and the Columbia. How much water is produced by snowfall in a year? It is estimated that melted snow produces 26 trillion gallons a water alone each year in the Columbia River.
-The Bible talks about snow (22x). If nothing else, snow may remind you to pray… for safety from it, or perhaps that it might go away. I went to Bible College in North Dakota, where we were sometimes called God’s frozen chosen. Lots of snow; lots of cold! In spite of it all, I still love snow! In fact, for all you haters out there, just remember that God made snow; therefore, it is good!
-There are lessons that God would have us to learn from the snow. There are treasures in the snow that are just waiting to be found. Let’s look at a few of them today.
I. Snow reminds us of God’s Provision
Psalm 148:7-8 7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps, 8 fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command!
-Scientists tell us that snowflakes are actually born in clouds containing moisture. The conditions must be just right for this to take place. The temperature must be well below the freezing point of water. Tiny snow crystals are formed, and as they get heavier they begin to fall; and as they fall they get larger because they pick up more moisture in the atmosphere. Who controls the conditions in the atmosphere? Who created the clouds that act as the storehouse? Who dispenses the snow at his choosing? If God is in control of the snow, and if God can dispense the snow upon the earth, can’t He provide all the things in life that we need?
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
-Did you know that there are many different shapes of snowflakes ? There are 10 general categories that snowflakes fall into. Under a microscope you could see some that are like needles....some like stars.....some like trees......some look like fishbones......some look like bullets......yet here is the amazing thing about them. No two snowflakes are exactly the same.
-Snowflakes have their own shape.....their own identity. Each one is unique.
-People are like the snow in this respect. Of the nearly 7 billion people on the earth right now.....and those who walked here previously, and those who will be born into the world in the future....there is not (nor ever has there been)....two people just alike. We have similarities......but we each have distinct characteristics that separate us from everyone else. Our fingerprints are unique. Our footprints are unique. Even the pattern of our retina is unique from anyone else’s. What does this say about God and His provision for us?
Like snow we have a designer.
We are something of value. We are special. We have a Creator that knew us before we were formed in the womb, and who knit us together distinctly from all others before us!
Like snow we have a distinction.
We are not only distinct in the way that we look, but God has a distinct purpose for each one of our lives.
Like snow we have a destiny.
Snow has more of a purpose than just to grace our landscape with beauty. God has provided a way for us to connect with His purpose for us!
We can see God’s purpose even in the smallest of things. God has a purpose for our lives! That leads us to a second truth we get from the snow.
II. Snow reminds us of God’s Purposes
Isaiah 55:10-11 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
-Scientists tell us that snow picks up nitrogen in the air when it is formed, and then dispenses it upon the earth as it melts. This improves the productivity of the ground.
-Snow originates from God. It is dispersed by him. In order for our lives to really have purpose, to be productive, it begins with a relationship with the Lord.
-This verse in Isaiah 55 says that just as God sends the rain and snow to accomplish His purpose of providing for us, so His word does the same. At creation, God spoke His word, and life was the result. However, mankind quickly fell away from the kind of life that comes from walking close to God. But God sent His word to us so we could share in His life again. His word was this: "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13). It is interesting that when Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on the colt, the people cried out, “Hosanna! Lord save us!” and hailed Jesus as "the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Luke 19:38) "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
-God sent His word, saying that if people would call on His name, they would be saved. Then He sent His Word in person (Jesus), to take people’s sins away. Paul describes the word that God sent to save us:
Romans 10:8-10 “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”
-God’s purpose is for you to be saved from sin and separation from Him. God’s purpose is for you to do life with Him! He sends the snow to give life to the earth. He sent His word to give life to the people He created! God intends for you to have life – real life! Life that is teeming with meaning and purpose! Life that is meant to be treasured and shared!
-And God in His purpose wants you to see Him one day. But the Bible also says that without holiness, nobody will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). So let’s look at how snow gives us a picture of holiness.
III. Snow reminds us of Purity
Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
-Snow has a cleansing effect on the atmosphere, sometimes called “wash-out or snow-out.” Snow is actually formed around some matter already existing in the atmosphere- a tiny particle of dirt.
-As Isaiah 1:18 indicates, we have been corrupted by sin. All have sinned! We cannot conceal the stain. Sin has messed us up BIG time! But the good news, the word that the Lord sent is this: We can be cleaner than snow!
-Snow gives us a picture of being covered and cleansed! When we confess our sins and come to God, we are covered by God’s holiness, blanketed in righteousness, made clean by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross!
-King David prayed a prayer of repentance in Psalm 51. “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Psalm 51:7
-Hyssop was used at the first Passover to brush the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of the people’s houses so the death angel would pass over them and not strike down the firstborn. And the sacrifice of that lamb was a picture of the real Lamb of God, Jesus, who would take away the sins of the world with His blood!
-As each of us takes a deep look into our own heart, we may not like what we see there. Sometimes we are surprised by our own actions or reactions. “Really? That was in me? Where did that come from? I didn’t know I had it in me!”
-The amazing thing is that God is pleased to wash us and make us as white as snow! Guys, when you have an impure thought, what can you do with it? Just whisper a prayer to God: Wash me! Make me clean. Give me clean hands and a pure heart! If you will do that, your thought patterns will begin to change. As you feed your spirit and not your desires, you will begin to thrive spiritually! You’ll find out what the high life is really all about!
Conclusion: As we close, snow is only here for a limited time.....then it melts away. Kind of like our physical life on this earth. James 4:14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
-Like snow we are here on a temporary basis
-Like snow we will return to the one who made us
-The biggest question we face in life is, “Did we fulfill our purpose?” Did we accomplish what we were put on this earth to do? And what is that, you might ask? To know God and make Him known.
-We have all the provision we need from God (2 Peter 1:3). We can connect with His purpose for us and share in His life. We do this by coming to God in faith and repentance and asking Him to wash us and make us clean.
-When you go out and see all the fresh snow, remember that God provides, God leads us into His purpose for our lives, and God washed us and makes us whiter than snow! Would you make that your prayer today? “Let it snow in my life, Lord! Thank you for washing my sins away. Thank you for your provision. Thank you for putting me on this earth for a purpose – so I can know You and help others know You! Amen!!!”
Portions of this sermon adapted from Mike Turner’s sermon on sermoncentral.com
