Calm Amidst Chaos
August 22, 2021 Morning Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: In Jesus, we can have calm no matter how chaotic our situation may be.
Focus Passage: Psalm 46
Supplemental Passage: "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)
Introduction: Right now, chaos reigns in the world. Authorities are telling us that COVID is resurging and variants of the virus are more deadly than the original strain. We were told that there would be 14 days to “flatten the curve” and that was nearly a year and a half ago. They are telling us that we must wear masks, even if we have been vaccinated. They are telling us that we must be vaccinated, but are now suggesting a third dose of a vaccine that has not been appropriately tested. They are telling us that they are considering a second lockdown. Elsewhere within the country, we have people pretending to be a different gender than which they were born and, in some places, it is illegal to not go along with their pretending. Elsewhere, we have conflict among nations, severe earthquakes, rampant diseases/plagues. We have a humanitarian crisis along our own southern border, with people spilling in unchecked, some of whom have COVID and some of whom are undercover terrorists. Currently in Afghanistan, we have a ridiculous, nationally embarrassing fiasco trying to withdraw our troops. We’ve lost billions of technology and weapons to, not just the Taliban, but also China and Russia. We have effectively turned our backs on thousands of Afghanis who helped our troops, not to mention thousands of our own citizens who are on their own if they cannot get to the Kabul airport in the next few days. There is chaos in our financial institutions. There is chaos in our economy. There is chaos in our government. There is chaos in our entertainment world. There is chaos in our universities. There is chaos in our medical services. There is even chaos in our local schools and government. Amid all this chaos, Christians have the ability to remain calm and have peace, but it is only from God through Jesus Christ.
I. A Tumultuous World
a. Wars
b. Conflict
c. Plagues
d. Chaos
e. The tumult of the world is an evidence of the sin of the world. (The Preachers Complete Homiletical Commentary Ps 46)
II. A Tranquil Church
a. God is in control
i. for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. (1 Corinthians 14:33 NASB)
b. God is with us (vs 5)
i. I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20 NASB)
c. God will not abandon us
i. for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU," (Hebrews 13:5b NASB)
d. Be still! Stop your striving/struggling! Calm down! Surrender your anxiety! (v10)
i. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 NASB)
ii. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. (1 Peter 5:7 NLT)
Application/Call to Obedience: For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7 NASB) The Bible says “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (Romans 10:9-10 NASB)
