Titanic
Much of this sermon is original. However I’ve picked up thoughts, points, illustrations and quotes from many sources.
1. (Slides 1-5) Always been fascinated with the Titanic, elementary school library book, Titanic was found when I was in high school, the movie (James Cameron pitched the movie idea by saying, “This boat, Romeo and Juliet,” and was given $200 million to make the movie)
2. So many different things happened that led to the tragedy, and many things after the iceberg caused more loss of life. Looking back many things could have been different; the enormity of the tragedy could have been prevented.
3. List of happenings before/after Titanic struck the iceberg.
4. No one is too big to fail!
• Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before a fall.”
• Luke 12:19-20, “The rich fool.”
• People don’t heed the warnings; many times multiple warnings.
• Many scoffed! Scoffed when they hit the iceberg (took pieces and put them in their drinks), scoffed about the lifevests (put them on and danced around, made fun of those who appeared worried or got on early lifeboats), scoffed that the Titanic could sink (“God himself couldn’t sink this ship”).
5. A false sense of security!
• Psalm 20:7.
• People don’t take a seat on the lifeboat when it’s offered to them.
• They cling to the false security they find in the Titanic for the seemingly instable lifeboat (70 foot drop into an open sea).
6. The saved (those in the lifeboats) fail the unsaved (those still in the water)!
• 1 Cor. 9:16, “I am compelled to preach the Gospel. Woe to me …”
• (Slide 22) Be a John Harper
7. There’s always room!
• Rom. 10:13, “all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
• Salvation isn’t like finding a seat on a Titanic lifeboat. All can be saved. Anyone can be saved, regardless of class or background.
• There are always “seats.” But some refuse to take advantage of the chance.
8. Close: The tragedy of the Titanic isn’t in numbers (1,517 dead). The tragedy is that every number is a name. Every name is a soul. Every soul was created by God and is now in eternity. The same is true today. You’ve been offered a seat in the lifeboat this morning. Will you accept it?
Titanic (before)
• So many details, shortcuts (rivets, thickness of steal, etc.)
• (Slide 6) Originally 32 lifeboats were supposed to be on board the Titanic, but that was cut to 16 (and four collapsible) because “people don’t pay to look at lifeboats.” That number satisfied old outdated British Board of Trade regulations made 20 years before when maximum capacity on passenger ships was much smaller (1/4).
• (Slide 7, 8, 9)In March emergency repairs to sister ship Olympic push back launch date for titanic to mid April, top month for icebergs in shipping lanes. and, because of Olympic, second officer Blair is off titanic. when he leaves, he takes along his locker key. in the locker are the binoculars for the crowsnest.
• (Slide 10) A lifeboat drill was scheduled for April 14, but was cancelled by Captain Smith. Had the drill taken place, people would have known that this wasn’t a drill and more may have been comfortable enough to get on the lifeboats.
• (Slide 11)Altogether there were seven ice warnings that were ignored by Captain Smith. Smith, under pressure from White Star’s Bruce Ismay, was trying to make the trans-Atlantic crossing in record time (six days), therefore going too fast in the dark of night, in seas filled with ice in a flat calm; no wind, so there were no waves breaking on the iceberg, making it harder to see.
• (Slide 12) Wireless (phone, radio) operator Jack Phillips has been receiving ice warnings from other ships throughout the day. Late in the evening he’s busy sends passenger messages. Nearby the California has stopped for the night because of the ice. On the Californian, just before he went to bed at around 11:15 PM Californian's radio operator attempted time after time to warn Titanic that there was ice in the area, but the “line was busy” with all the passenger messages. He finally tried to cut in on the line with a “blast” that hurt Phillips ears. On the Titanic, Philips responds, "Shut up, shut up! I am busy." Rebuffed, the radio man on board the Californian turns off his radio and goes to sleep.
• (Slide 13) When they saw the iceberg, they had just 37 second warning, First Officer Murdoch ordered Titanic turned “hard-a-starboard” (meaning turn left) instead of hitting dead on,). had the ship plowed into the iceberg head on, she may have survived. the front bulkheads were built for impact. the sides were not.
(Slide 14) At 11:40 p.m. the Titanic struck the iceberg.
Titanic (after)
• (Slide 15, 16) For years, people assumed that the iceberg had ripped a whole up to 300 feet long. Sonar soundings on the wreck determined that the iceberg actually sheared off cheap rivets, causing six small slits in between the steel plates. A total of 12 square feet (the size of a man) of damage in a 900 foot long ship.
• (Slide 17) Californian was closest ship (6-15 miles away) and they turned off their radio that night after being rebuffed. The Californian crew members saw Titanic’s flares go off at 12:45 a.m. (an hour and a half before Titanic sank) and woke the captain, but they never turned the radio back on or move closer to investigate.
• (Slide 18) The Carpathia was 58 miles away (almost three hours away), and responded to Titanic’s 12:15 a.m. distress call in just 10 minutes, at 12:25 a.m. Accounting for turning the ship around, getting up to full speed and maneuvering ice itself, they arrived around 4:10 a.m.
• (Slide 19, 20, 21) About 475 empty seats on the launched lifeboats. First lifeboat to launch (7) had just 24 people with a capacity of 65. Lifeboat 1 had only 12 people, with a capacity of 40. Only one lifeboat was completely full. Total capacity of all lifeboats was 1,178 for Titanic’s 2,223.
• The water was 28 degrees (F)
• Only two lifeboats returned for survivors, picking up 12 from the water, three of those died. Survivors were afraid of going back to pick up those in the water, thinking they would be swamped.
• In 2 hours and 40 minutes the Titanic sank. 2,223 crew and passengers. 706 survived, 1,517 died.
John Harper, 39, Scottish widower, father of 6-year-old Nina
As a widower and father of a six year old little girl, Harper probably could have boarded a lifeboat. Instead he secured his daughter in a lifeboat, kissed her, told her he’d see her again, then turned and immediately started to shout, “Women, children and the unsaved into the lifeboats.”
When the boat went under, Harper was seen swimming frantically to people in the water leading them to Jesus. Mr. Harper swam up to one young man who had climbed up on a piece of debris. Harper asked him between breaths, "Are you saved?" The young man replied that he was not.
Harper then tried to lead him to Christ, telling him, “Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus and you will be saved,” only to have the young man who was near shock, reply no. John Harper then took off his life jacket and gave it to the man and said "Here then, you need this more than I do," and swam away to other people.
A few minutes later Harper swam back to the young man and asked, “Are you saved now?” The answer, again, was no. “Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”
This time he succeeded in leading him to salvation. Of the more than 1,500 people that went into the water that night, six were rescued by the lifeboats. One of them was this young man on the debris.
Four years later, at a survivors meeting, this young man stood up and in tears recounted how John Harper had led him to Christ. Mr. Harper had tried to swim back to help other people, yet because of the intense cold, had grown too weak to swim.
The survivor said "Alone in the night with two miles of water under me I believed, I am John Harpers’ last convert."
John Harper’s focus wasn’t on himself, his own needs or his own future. Even in his dying moments, all he thought about was the people around him and their spiritual condition.
Screen cues
Titanic
• (Slides 1-5) Short intro into the topic, then when I mention the movie you can scroll these five shots. Take about 5 seconds or so with each one.
• (Slide 6) Originally 32 lifeboats were supposed to be on board the Titanic, but that was cut to 16 (and four collapsible) because “people don’t pay to look at lifeboats.”
• (Slide 7, 8, 9) In March emergency repairs to sister ship Olympic push back launch date for Titanic to mid April, top month for icebergs in shipping lanes. Because of Olympic, Second Officer Blair is off Titanic. When he leaves, he takes along his locker key. In the locker are the binoculars for the crowsnest.
• (Slide 10) A lifeboat drill was scheduled for April 14, but was cancelled by Captain Smith.
• (Slide 11) Altogether there were seven ice warnings that were ignored by Captain Smith. Smith, under pressure from White Star’s Bruce Ismay, was trying to make the trans-Atlantic crossing in record time (six days).
• (Slide 12) Wireless operator Jack Phillips sends passenger messages
• (Slide 13) When they saw the iceberg, they had just 37 second warning, First Officer Murdoch ordered Titanic turned “hard-a-starboard”
• (Slide 14) At 11:40 p.m. the Titanic struck the iceberg.
• (Slide 15, 16) For years, people assumed that the iceberg had ripped a whole up to 300 feet long. Cheap rivets caused six small slits in between the steal plates.
• (Slide 17) Californian was closest ship (6-15 miles away)
• (Slide 18) The Carpathia was 58 miles away (almost three hours away)
• (Slide 19, 20, 21) About 475 empty seats on the launched lifeboats.
No one is too big to fail! Prov. 16:18, Luke 12:19-20
A false sense of security! Psalm 20:7.
The saved fail the unsaved! 1 Cor. 9:16,
• (Slide 22) Be a John Harper
There’s always room! Rom. 10:13
(Slide 23) Close: The tragedy of the Titanic isn’t in numbers (1,517 dead).
