Gentlemen Start Your Engines
PPT 1 Series Title
Today we are beginning our new sermon series: Amazing Race, winning the Race that really matters.
Because today is also Father's day, for brevities sake, I will give a full introduction to the series next week, and this week we will discuss this simple truth: we need to wake up to the fact that today is race day, we will have all eternity to rejoice in whatever victories God may give us, be we only have a short time now to labor for those victories. If you are going to do something that matters, you have to do it now.
PPT 2 Series text: Hebrews 12:1-4
Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
PPT 3 Video of Nascar, start your engines
PPT 4 Picture of Yamamoto
On the screen behind me is a picture of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who is reported to have said
immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." (This quote has not been verified, but is reported to have been found in his personal diary)
That terrible resolve that he spoke of was that America would get off the sidelines, and stop sitting by idly while nation after nation, and island after island fell under the control of one of histories worst axis of evil. We are talking about the Nazi empire, and the emperor worshipping Japanese empire.
PPT 5 The eye from Lord of the Rings triology.
Similarly, The following quote is from The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien "Darkness crept back into the forests of the world. Rumor grew of a shadow in the East, whispers of a nameless fear, and the Ring of Power perceived, its time had now come."
I believe we are living in such days. Evil is aware that its times is almost here.
I want to challenge all today, especially the men with this thought: That Island after Island, and nation after nation are falling under a dark shadow again, a dark shadow that is rapidly spreading around the world and will culminate in the world government of the antichrist.
The good news is that it doesn't have to happen in our generation. The antichrist is said to be a beast that arises out of the sea. Figuratively, I believe it is speaking of difficult world conditions that resemble a troubled and angry sea, and that stormy sea produces the conditions from which he will arise. I see those conditions existing in the world at this very hour. But I am not a fatalist, I don't think it has to happen on our watch.
I believe that if the men and women of God, will start their engines, so to speak, we can change the writing on the wall for this generation. If the sleeping giant will arise and shake off his dust and rouse himself to action we can turn the tide that will most surely befall us if we do nothing.
In the beginning of WW2 our nation adopted a somewhat neutral position thinking it will not effect us. I am reminded of the word of warning Mordecai sent his cousin Es 4:13 Mordecai sent her this message: "Don't think that just because you live in the king's house you're the one Jew who will get out of this alive.
There is too much happening for us to think this dark cloud will simply pass us by, it has already enveloped our land and its strength grows everyday. To think otherwise is to be naive at best, and at worst it means you are living so worldly you can't see how far down the path of darkness we as a nation have already come.
Ladies and gentlemen we need to start our engines. It is of little value to have a formula 1 race car if you never bother to put the key in the engine and fire it up.
There are those around us who are looking at our lives and the question on their minds is like that of men at a car show. Fire it up, lets see what you got under the hood.
PPT 6 Burning Bush
That reminds me of the text in Exodus where Moses saw the burning bush, and the bible says he turned aside to see the strange occurrence. It wasn't strange that a bush was on fire, what was strange was that it wasn't consumed, but kept on burning.
PPT 7 Hurricane Lamp
The world is not interested in Christian 1 hit wonders, on fire one day, and cussing up a storm the next.
They want to see genuine believers who are fired up, and stay on fire. Who have consistency in their walk, who are a vibrant witness, in good times and bad. Whose lamp doesn't burn out with every gust of wind that life throws at them, but are like hurricane lamps that can withstand the worse storms life can throw and them and still continue to give off light.
Every situation and every circumstance you face in life, there are those around you who are sitting back and watching to see what you have under the hood.
PPT 8 Muscle car
The main purpose of this series of messages on the Amazing Race is to help us to focus on winning the race that really matters. I am not talking about the rat race, or the money race, or the race to accumulate. Our purpose is to be an influence, a spice, a preservative, our goal is not to blend in and concentrate on accumulating, but to stand out and move the ship of life that is all around us in another direction.
O that God would wake us up and give us a terrible resolve.
A resolve that it will not be this generation that goes to oblivion, but one that ushered in a great awakening.
Here is the great call to start your engines found in scripture:
PPT 9 Scripture Texts
2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Today as we begin this series on the amazing race I want to make a few brief points, and in weeks to come we will deal with a wide variety of subjects, that in some ways are patterned after the TV show, but primarily centered on the scriptures such Heb. 12, and this one:
Text: 1Co 9:24 You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. (MSG)
We are going to talk about roadblocks, detours, pit stops, overcoming when you face a serious gut check, gyroscopes and GPS, running with endurance and the prize set before us. Its going to be great series of messages, you won't want to miss any of them.
Today because it is Father's day I am going to meld two ideas into one message.
1. Waking up to the fact that today is race day, and starting your engine.
2. How waking up relates to our relationship as children, and dads.
The first thing we need to do, if we are going to be successful in changing our world, is to start our engine and get in the race.
Here is a wonderful verse to help us in that direction:
PPT 10 Picture of Numbered Days
Ps 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
By realizing the race set before us is of limited duration, it should help us to wake from slumber and as the Psalmist says, apply our heart to wisdom.
The problem with that verse is that it asks us to do the seemingly impossible: number our days. That would be easy if we all came with an expiration date stamped on our head. Unfortunately, we haven't. But that doesn't mean we can't number our days. I asked some of the staff, and a couple leaders how they could answer that question. They each came up with a unique solution: Watch this clip.
PPT 11 Video How can we number our days?
Did you notice in the office the count down timers over every one's head? We all have an expiration date. Each day that number is getting smaller and smaller.
In the video we first saw:
1st Pastor Andy with his statistics professor: actuarial tables, give an approximate age at death, nothing is certain. Numbering your days teaches you, your time is unknown so do all you can while you can. Don't waste any time.
2nd Jessica at the cemetery. Coming to the cemetery connects me with the emotional reality of death. Not only mine but yours also. I don't know how much time you have, so I better impact you while I can. The grim reaper says everyone's time is written down, but no one can know it. The cemetery teaches us your expiration date can be at any time. The time to start your engine is now.
3rd Todd sang in the living years
In the Living Years
You may be wondering what this has to do with starting your engines and the Amazing Race. Well, I thought that since this series starts today on Father's day, I could combine the two thoughts, and this is how I am going to do it. Starting your engines is not some abstract concept, its about being a man of prayer, leading your family, being a vibrant Christian witness where ever you are and having the best family you could have.
Now is the time to have a good family, now is the time to start your engine and be an engaged father, husband, son or daughter, wife and mother. Now is the time to start your engine.
The Mike + The Mechanics version was initially promoted to give the impression the lyrics described the disagreements between Mike Rutherford and his father, who had recently died. In an interview with Mike Rutherford, he said:
"The lyrics were written by BA [Robertson] and the song is about something he went through. He lost his Dad and it's about the lack of communication between him and his father before he died. There's also the irony of him having a baby just after losing his father.
This is what he said about the why of writing that song:
"in my mind's eye, I could see the great gulf between generations. It seemed to be constantly expanding, growing ever wider. On one side is the parents; on the other, the children. The only way they can communicate over that great distance is by screaming the words they have to say to one another. Sadly, I could see just how true that whole scene was."
Here are some comments I found on the web on the way this song has impacted people:
My father passed away in 1997 and every time I hear this song I think of him and miss him. Our daughters are estranged from us and do not come to see us and whenever I hear this song I weep for the lost times that you can never get back.
Another:
This song has been my absolute favorite for over ten years now. I had trouble finding it but a friend knew it was Mike and the Mechanics and I've been a great fan of theirs ever since. The song makes me want to cry every time I hear it and to me it's just saying how important it is to tell people how you feel and get things out into the open, because life is just too short for misunderstanding, and harboring grudges.
Another:
What's really poignant for me with this song, is that i remember hearing it in the car with my dad when I was younger and he'd be driving me someplace. I couldn't understand all the words, until he explained them and the meanings behind it....since then my dad's dad has passed away. this song always make me wanna cry but I still like it because I remember hearing it in the car. and every chance I get, I tell my dad I love him.
Another:
This song has incredible meaning for me. My father and I just couldn't seem to agree on anything when I was growing up. He was the reason that, on my 18th birthday, I packed up and moved out of my parents' home.
One morning in early 1989, I was in the basement of my home working out before I showered and went to work. As I always did, I had the radio playing while I lifted weights, but for some reason, my wife had changed the station the day before and it was not the one I typically listened to.
As I lay on the weight bench, this song, which I'd never heard before, came on. I listened to the lyrics and began sobbing uncontrollably. I felt a tremendous sense of loss -- and had no idea why.
Later that morning, my brother, who still lived in the town where we'd grown up, called me at the office and told me my father had passed away right around the time I heard that song. It was spooky.
My father had suffered a stroke several years earlier, and was bedridden, unable to speak since his illness. I moved 1600 miles away shortly after he became ill, perhaps out of the belief that, in his vegetative state, we never would be able to understand one another.
This song perfectly captured the nature of our relationship and the regret that washed over me that morning in 1989. I only hope that somehow, my father knew that I wanted to reach him very badly.
- Glenn, Denver, CO
Last one:
I wish I had a son because my life is ending. he'd remember me each time this plays. it takes me back to the time that my life was still promising and wonderful
- stafler, durban, South Africa
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye
I wasn't there that morning
When my Father passed away
I didn't get to tell him
All the things I had to say
I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
I'm sure I heard his echo
In my baby's new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye
There was one more, Pastor Chet come up and show us what you came up with:
Close
1Pe 4:3 For the time already past is sufficient [for you] to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousals, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.
Props: opaque water picture, and bucket water can be poured into.
Hi everyone, I want to deomstrate something that will show you that even though you don't know how exactly long you will live, you can still apply your heart to wisdom.
I am holding in my hand a picture of water.
There is a scripture found in 2Sa 14:14 "For we shall surely die and are like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away life, but plans ways so that the banished one may not be cast out from him.
That scripture teaches us that life is like water that is spilled on the ground that cannot be regathered, it is lost forever in the ground. Once its gone, its gone. You cannot relive your life, you only get one shot at it.
This picture holds what is to you an unknown amount of water. That water represents the amount of life that was determined by God that you would have. Some of you were given what could be called a large amount, and some a small amount, it varies for each of us, and no one knows how much they have been given at the start.
I am going to pour some out now. That represents the life you have already lived.
Look inside, and say: "wow...
Some of you there is not much left, and I can tell if that is what is true for the youngest person in this building or the oldest."
I know you don't want me to, but I am going to pour out some more water. This represents the 1/3 of your life that is left that you are going to sleep.
I am going to pour out some more water, this represents that portion of your life that is wasted on idle pursuits.
That doesn't leave a whole of water left. I leave you with this scripture:
Eph 5:15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise Eph 5:16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
