Sept 11th And The Task Before Us

September 11th and the Task Before Us

By: Pastor Clinton Browning

Staples Baptist Church

Tomorrow is the 5th anniversary of the Sept 11th events that occurred through out the country. Today I want to discuss terrorism, anger, fear and the decisions that need to be made.

Those of us that are parents can tell you what true fear is. Anyone that has been in the world for more than 5 minutes can probably tell you what anger is. Today we’re going to discuss a little of both.

First off I’m not going to stand on this pulpit and proclaim a hate massage for radical extremist, nor for radical Americans, nor sitting on our hands. As I quoted several times over the last few weeks:

Matthew 24:6 “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars”

Daniel wrote in Daniel 9:26 “There will be war until the end.”

How many remember September 9th, 2001

I want to talk about Today verses Sept 9th, 2001.

• Today as was then was the last Sunday before September 11, 2001.

• Today as was then some may be in church somewhere in this world is someone is struggling with the decision to walk the isle and make a decision.

• Today as was then, someone is struggling to decide if today is the day to rededicate their life to their Christian walk.

• Today as was then, MANY have forgotten what happened and that there are no guarantees for tomorrow.

• Today as was then, This is the last Sunday some will hear a message or step foot in a church.

I. What we saw and felt on 9/11:

How many people can remember where they were when:

• JFK was assassinated - 62

• Saigon Fell - 75

• The First WTC Bombing - 93

• Oklahoma City Bombing - 95

• Columbine High School - 99

• Finally when 9/11 occurred

Many of us can remember where we were or what we were doing at the time we first found out. Many can remember the feelings of anger, fear, loss, and a myriad of other feelings.

• We saw smoke

• We heard fear in the voices of the news reporters

• Watched and have watched the plane fly into the WTC and Pentagon over and over

• We watched in disbelief as the towers fell.

• We watch selfless rescues die along with the civilians they were trying to save.

• We wondered if it would ever end

• We feared for our loved ones and wondered where they were.

• We wondered if there would be a tomorrow

II. What God Saw:

On September 11, 2001 God saw passengers, crew and hijackers on four airplanes that needed to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. He saw thousands in the World Trade Center that he wanted to call his children. He saw thousands in the Pentagon that he wished to be reconnected with. And he saw many that perished without ever coming back into relationship with their heavenly Father.

And we need to open our eyes not just to the tragedy of death but more so to the tragedy of how many of them died without knowing Jesus Christ as their Savior.

How many attended church the Sunday before 911 and heard the last sermon they would ever hear, the last invitation they would ever have a chance to respond to and yet without knowing that it was the last one, stayed in their seats and never responded.

Poem: If I Knew & Firefighter’s Prayer

Now I read those with the understanding that all of this raises a question what can we do about it?

III. The Task Before Us

a. Anger

i. Ephesians 4:26 – 27 26-27 (The Message) Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.

ii. Use that anger

iii. Don’t sin

b. Fear

i. Mark 4:40 40He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

ii. Illustration: A little boy who was fishing one day years ago. He saw one of the big beautiful Paddle Steamboats headed down the river and he immediately stood up and began yelling and waving, "Over here! Over here!" I want to ride." An old man fishing near the boy on the bank tried to calm down the boy explaining that the big riverboat was much too important a ship to stop and give rides to little boys. You can imagine the old man’s surprise when the huge ship began crossing over to the riverside where the two were fishing. When the boat edged to the riverbank and dropped it’s gangplank the little boy climbed aboard. When he reached the pilot house on the ship the little boy called down to the elderly gentleman, "Mister, I knew this ship would stop for me. The captain is my father!" The little boy knew his location - he knew where he stood in relation to the Captain and he could call the ship over fully expecting it to do so. (contributed by: SermonCentral)