INTRO.- ILL.- The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture. "Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, ’There’s Jennifer; she’s a lawyer,’ or ’That’s Michael, he’s a doctor.’"
A small voice from the back of the room rang out, "And there’s the teacher; she’s still old, nasty, and wrinkled."
Sometimes we need to take a look back but with perhaps a certain amount of caution. Remembering or looking back can be good or bad. Some looking back may not be good but it is necessary to make us think and get our own priorities right.
For example, what happened five years ago tomorrow? 9/11/01, the day of terror when those jet planes hit the twin towers, another hit the Pentagon and still another (Flight 93) went down in Pennsylvania. A total of 2973 people were killed in those attacks and it’s a day that America and the world will never forget!
ILL.- One news item was entitled “America the vulnerable.” WASHINGTON, SEPT. 12, 2001 (CBS News) - Hunkered down, grieving and nervous, America won’t soon be the same. The attacks that rained death on New York, Washington and a field in Pennsylvania brought an end to any idea that a strong country can be an invincible one.
Well away from the destruction, the symbols of American life - its work and play - slammed shut. No Disney World. No Mall of America. The first cancellation of a day’s major league baseball games, for reasons other than labor troubles, since D-Day. U.S. air space closed to commercial flights for the first time ever.
Even the government hid, diverting President Bush to military bases in the nation’s midsection on his way back from Florida and sending congressional leaders to a mountain fortification west of Washington.
"America is forever changed," said Sen. Chuck Hagel, "America is in for a long fight."
Brothers and sisters, we remember and we hurt. We still hurt for the families who lost loved ones on that day. We remember and we pray. We ask for God’s mercy and His grace to be given to all who have suffered.
Could it happen again? Some don’t think so, but it seems to me that we are still vulnerable. It’s a shame that we can’t live in freedom and peace, but this is the way it is in our day and time. And sadly, this is probably the way it will be until God says, “Enough is enough!” and puts His foot down and calls a halt to this sin-sick work.
What can we do? We must we do in the light of terror, danger and evil in this world?
PROP.- Considering the terror of 9/11 and all danger in our world today there are several, common sense things we can do.
I. DON’T DO DUMB THINGS THAT PUT YOU IN DANGER
Prov. 14:15 “A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.”
Brothers and sisters, we must be cautious in this world of evil and danger! We must be wise. We must give thought to what we are doing. We must exercise wisdom and common sense in order to avoid certain dangers.
ILL.- Several years ago Elaine and I went to Cancun, Mexico, for 4 days and 3 nights. IT WAS LONG ENOUGH. The most extravagant thing we did while was to go snorkeling. There were five boats in our group. The small boats held only two people and we played follow the leader. The leader was a little Hispanic guy we could barely understand and probably weighed 110 lbs. dripping wet. Besides Elaine and me, there were seven others, all women. Little Hispanic guy and I were the only men of the group.
After we drove those little boats for probably near an hour we finally anchored somewhere out in the Caribbean Sea. Everybody put on their snorkeling goggles and breathing device. Elaine and I were the last to get going. Elaine was not excited being in that water, to say the least. You could look down below and see the Coral reef and fish swimming around and I believe one of the women yelled out and said that something had touched her leg. THAT DID NOT ENCOURAGE ELAINE AT ALL!
Finally, Elaine wanted to go back and get in the boat so we headed back. She thought snorkeling was bad, but the worst was yet to come. After several tries and a lot of hard struggle, I finally got in our boat. The front end of the boat was higher in the water than the rear end because of the motor on the rear. Elaine gave me her arm and I nearly pulled it off, trying to pull her into the boat. Finally, I asked her to go to the back of the boat since it was lower in the water. I figured it would be easier to pull out of the water and into the boat. About that time the little Hispanic was nearly back to the boats and hollered, “No, no, no.”
Those little boats were anchored together and it took the guide and myself to get Elaine and those other women back into their boats. Here’s what we did. He stood on one boat and I stood on another.
The women would put one leg onto one boat and the other leg on the other boat, and we would take their hands and pull them up into the boat. IT WAS NOT VERY LADY LIKE BUT IT WORKED.
Anyway, that experience just about finished Elaine off. She is not much for taking chances with her life…snorkeling or otherwise.
The moral of the story is this: Don’t do stupid things in life that could possibly kill or maim you or harm you!
ILL.- Jun 5, 2006, KIEV. Russia - A man shouting that God would keep him safe was mauled to death by a lioness in Kiev zoo after he crept into the animal’s enclosure, a zoo official said on Monday.
"The man shouted ’God will save me, if he exists’, lowered himself by a rope into the enclosure, took his shoes off and went up to the lions," the official said. "A lioness went straight for him, knocked him down and severed his carotid artery."
I’m sorry for what happened to that man but he was just plain stupid!
ILL.- More recently, the world has been shocked by this incident. CAIRNS, Australia - Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and conservationist known as the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed Monday, Sept. 4th, by a stingray while filming off the Great Barrier Reef. He was 44.
Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called "Ocean’s Deadliest" when he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a poisonous barb on their tails, his friend and colleague John Stainton said.
"He came on top of the stingray and the stingray’s barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin’s boat at the time.
Crew members aboard the boat, Croc One, called emergency services in the nearest city, Cairns, and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later.
"The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest dads on the planet," Stainton told reporters in Cairns. "He died doing what he loved best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. He would have said, ’Crocs Rule!’"
Brothers and sisters, Steve Irwin seemed to be loved by people around the world. He was certainly passionate about what he believed and what he did. But all along, he knew that what he was doing was dangerous! He knew that he was flirting with death. And now he has left behind a wife and two small children.
I hate that Steve Irwin left this world early and left a family behind. I think he was a very loving man, loving to his family, loving to people, and certainly he loved animals, BUT HE KNEW THE DANGER.
ILL.- My friend Ron Smith from southern IL was an elementary school principal. For many years, he ran marathons, but that wasn’t enough. He decided to start gliding but not exactly hang gliding. It’s the type where you are pulled by a car. It’s sort of like parasailing. What happened? His glider crashed and he was killed. He was a great guy who could no longer influence kids in a positive way. He was doing something that was potentially dangerous.
Prov. 14:15 “A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.”
A simple person may believe they can get away with doing all kinds of dangerous things in life but many of those people have left this world early.
Eph. 5:15-17 “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”
There is much evil in this world. We must be alert, careful and cautious. There is no sense playing into the hands of the enemy by doing things that could take our lives.
I Cor. 6:19-20 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
You do not just belong to you! You belong to the Lord to take care of yourself so you can serve the Lord as best you can and as long as you can while on earth! And no only do you belong to the Lord, you also belong to your family members and your Christian family. YOU ARE IMPORTANT, VALUABLE AND NEEDED!
We all need to take care of ourselves as best we can, as long as we can in order to love others and be a blessing to others!
What else can we do to avoid evil and danger? What must we do?
II. PUT YOUR GREATEST TRUST IN THE LORD
Prov. 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Prov. 3:25-26 “Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.”
It’s all right to trust certain people, but when you are really up against the wall, between a rock and a hard place, we all need to put our greatest trust in the Lord. He is our ultimate helper!
Ps. 46:1-2 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.”
ILL.- Dear Lord, please help cops catch crooks. Amen Aug 3, 8:05 AM (ET) LONDON (Reuters) - Police in eastern England are looking to God to help them catch vandals and burglars.
The Lincolnshire branch of the Christian Police Association is setting up a "Prayer Watch" scheme to alert Christians to local crimes.
As well as encouraging worshippers to keep an eye out on their churches and each other, the police said the scheme would allow Christians to use prayer to help catch criminals.
Retired London policeman Don Axcell, the national executive director of the Christian Police Association, said God did answer crime-busting prayers. "I’m a great believer in the power of prayer and all I’d say to the skeptics is that I’ve seen it work too many times for it to be a coincidence," he told the Lincolnshire Echo newspaper.
On a stronger note, here is someone who put his trust in the Lord.
ILL.- Todd Beamer and "let’s roll!" How can we forget him? The article in Christianity Today was entitled: "Active Christian on Flight 93 Hailed as a Hero." By LaTonya Taylor | posted 9/19/01 "Todd Beamer will always be remembered as a national hero. But members of Princeton Alliance Church in Plainsboro, New Jersey, say they thought of the 32-year-old father of two as a hero long before he and others on United Flight 93 confronted hijackers on the Boeing 757 on September 11. The flight was the only one that did not hit a target. Instead, it crashed in rural Pennsylvania.
"On board Beamer called a GTE Airphone operator about the hijacking, recited the Lord’s Prayer, and said, ’Let’s roll.’ Beamer and the others, investigators believe, then somehow interfered with the terrorists’ plans and kept the jet from hitting a target presumed to be in Washington."
Lisa Beamer said, "To the world they were ordinary [but] they figured out how to do extraordinary things...to overcome the worst adversity I could ever imagine. They realized they were going to die. Todd said he and some other passengers were going to jump on the guy with the bomb."
Todd Beamer dropped the phone after talking to Robinson, leaving the line open. It was then that the operator heard Beamer’s words: "Are you guys ready? Let’s roll!"
Todd Beamer. We salute you. We honor you. We praise you. All America honors you. You and multitudes of others deserve honor. And God honors you now, because you honored Him. Thank you for showing us how to trust the Lord even in the face of danger.
How do we put our trust in the Lord?
Mark 1:35 “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
Jesus shows us how to trust, as did Todd Beamer. Jesus was quick to pray to His heavenly Father. He was quick to ask, seek, and knock. And we must do the same. The more we trust, the more we pray. And the more we pray, the greater our trust will be.
CONCLUSION-------------------------
II Thess. 3:1-3 “Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.”
ILL.- One day Linus and Charlie Brown are walking along and chatting with one another. Linus says, "I don’t like to face problems head on. I think the best way to solve problems is to avoid them. In fact, this is a distinct philosophy of mine. No problem is so big or so complicated that it can’t be run away from!"
Brothers and sisters, we all know that we can’t run away from everything negative we face in life. Someone said, “You can ship a donkey from Maine to California, however, he’s still a donkey.”
Our hope and help is in the Lord no matter what we face in life! He is our deliverer! He is protector from all evil and danger! It is always right to follow Him, to trust Him, to lean on Him, etc. Make that your decision today.
