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)
iii. James 1:2-4, we read, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
iv. Like I’ve said before sometimes we will be allowed to undergo trials because when we are at the bottom all we can do is look up.
c. Prayer
i. When we are at our lowest we need to pray for comfort.
1. 2 Corinthians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
2. Christ will give us comfort, when our faith is weak
3. Job 1:20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship
4. When the world is against us, Christ will be there.
ii. When we don’t know what else to do, Pray
iii. When we are so mad all we can do is think of revenge, Pray
1. Pray for comfort
2. Pray for direction
3. Pray for the decisions that need to be made:
a. Yours
b. Others
God never said life would be easy, he did say he would never leave us nor forsake us.
God gives no guarantees that there will be a tomorrow.
If tomorrow never comes: By Garth Brooks
Sometimes late at night
I lie awake and watch her sleeping
She’s lost in peaceful dreams
So I turn out the lights and lay there in the dark
And the thought crosses my mind
If I never wake up in the morning
Would she ever doubt the way I feel
About her in my heart
(chorus)
If tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try in every way to show her every day
That she’s my only one
And if my time on earth were through
And she must face the world without me
Is the love I gave her in the past
Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never comes
cause I’ve lost loved ones in my life
Who never knew how much I loved them
Now I live with the regret
That my true feelings for them never were revealed
So I made a promise to myself
To say each day how much she means to me
And avoid that circumstance
Where there’s no second chance to tell her how I feel
*chorus*
So tell that someone that you love
Just what you’re thinking of
If tomorrow never comes
We have no guarantees, tell that someone that you love, but most importantly never put off what decisions you need to make for Christ.
In Christ I have a Blessed Assurance that Jesus is mine.
Let’s Pray
Is there a decision that need to be made today. Please make it, this may be your last Chance.
Pray for those effected tomorrow, pray for those that will never make it home today or those that won’t return next week.
