Rev. David Holwick J Your Family's Foundation
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
March 26, 2017
Psalm 28:1-2,6-9
WHEN CATASTROPHE COMES
I. Are you prepared?
A. American Baptists of New Jersey are.
We have an emergency truck with chainsaws and medical equipment
and a trained squad that is certified by FEMA.
It was put together in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
Do you remember how you handled that crisis?
Do you still have plenty of flashlights and Pop-Tarts stored
away?
B. Society is fragile.
1) In the event of a crisis, most cities would starve in days.
a) Just-in-time delivery means there is little cushion.
b) Food will be short in 3 days, largely due to hoarding.
1> hospitals and nursing homes would run out in 1 day.*
c) Gas stations will run dry in 1 to 2 days.
d) Garbage will inundate cities in a few days.
e) Drinking water runs out in 2 to 4 weeks. [1]
2) All of them will head for Roxbury expecting you to save them.
C. How prepared are you for disaster?
1) All of us will one day experience low-level disasters,
the personal kind like storms and death.
2) It is possible you will live to see a high-level crisis.
a) You could be caught in the middle of a terrorist attack.
b) Fire could ravage everything you own.
c) Maybe you would be driven from your home and community.
3) No one knows what their future holds.
a) Are you prepared if the worst should happen?
II. Facing the Big Ones.
A. Death will come.
1) Natural death is to be expected.
a) It is still hard, but we expect our grandparents and
parents to die some day.
b) In the back of our minds, we know that we will die
to.
2) Some death would be much harder to accept.
a) Movie called "Faith Like Potatoes."
It is the true story of a white farmer in South
Africa named Angus Buchan.
He faces many failures in farming and it made him
a bitter and violent man.
After going to church with his wife, he heard
testimonies of faith from average farmers like him
and he gave his heart to the Lord.
He experienced several miracles, like spontaneous rain
during the dry season that put out a wildfire, and
the reviving of an apparently dead woman after
she was struck by lightning.
His faith propelled him to evangelize his region, and he
felt called to fill a stadium with people to pray
for rain and racial reconciliation.
Before the rally took place, he took a nephew and
niece on a tractor ride at his farm.
They hit a bump, the boy slipped down and was crushed
by the huge wheel.
Angus fervently prayed for the boy, but he did not
survive.
Angus was very distraught, as any normal person would be.
His brother-in-law ends up forgiving him, but can you
forgive yourself for something like that?
#65798
b) Humans must face the fact that many important events
in life - and death - are beyond our control.
B. You may lose what you own.
1) Bankruptcy could be around the corner.
a) My mother's dad lost his farm in the Great Depression.
1> He never fully recovered from it.
b) At the end of their lives they lived in a tiny apartment
in a small rural town in Illinois.
2) Even with all the modern safeguards, your finances can
be destroyed.
a) All it takes is a broken marriage, a severe illness,
or a stock market crash.
C. Your body can fall apart.
1) We expect illnesses to be cured and hospital stays to be
short.
2) Not always. Some, even in our church, have medical
conditions that will probably never be cured.
3) They expect steadily diminishing strength and vitality.
a) It can be very depressing for them, even a spiritual
crisis.
D. Your family can implode.
1) No one knows if their children will become drug addicts or
criminals or homeless.
2) What seems like a solid marriage can dissolve overnight.
E. There may be disasters you never expect.
1) The London terror attack this week shows that violence and
deranged people are everywhere.
2) Back in 1999 a young father held a gun on two men and forced
them to drive him to his mother-in-law's house, and then
to a church.
As he went into the church the men ran to call the police.
They weren't fast enough.
Shon Miller, 22 years old, shot two bullets into the ceiling
and told everyone to get on the floor.
He then walked to the fourth pew where his estranged wife
was cowering.
Within minutes, three people were killed and four others
were wounded.
Police found Shon hiding in a shed holding his gun to his
head.
#4630
These days, you're really not safe anywhere.
III. How to react in a crisis.
A. Draw closer together as a family.
1) Tough times can tear families apart.
a) This is especially true if one person gets blamed for
the troubles.
b) But most crises are more complex than one person's
failure.
2) You can use a crisis to pull together.
a) What really makes you a family anyway?
b) How committed are you to each other?
I remember hearing of a woman who was diagnosed
with advanced cancer.
Her husband didn't seem to care, and wouldn't even
drive her to chemotherapy sessions.
She survived the cancer but not the marriage.
She sent him packing.
3) Be committed to one another through thick and thin.
a) Being committed now on the small things can help you
face bigger things.
B. Keep your faith in God.
1) Some will give up on God.
a) Perhaps you have been coasting in your faith for years,
just going through the motions.
b) When crisis hits, you may turn desperately to God but
not feel anything.
1> Psalm 28 suggests that - David pours out his heart
to God, but is fearful God will be silent.
2> If God is silent, you need to ask, has God failed
- or you?
2) Others will turn to God and receive strength.
a) By the end of Psalm 28, David rejoices in God's help.
b) Many others have testified to me that in their deepest
need they felt a "peace that passes understanding."
3) Many characters in the Bible experienced crisis.
a) Sometimes they were miraculously delivered, sometimes
not.
b) Crisis drew them closer to God and sharpened their
message.
c) You may find that it sharpens you.
C. Focus on Jesus.
1) He suffered more than you have, or will.
2) Contemplate what he experienced and it will put your
troubles in a different light.
Hebrews 12:2-3 says,
"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter
of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured
the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men,
so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
3) Crisis may come, but so can God's grace.
a) Rejoice that it brings you salvation.
D. Become equipped to help others.
1) I have heard that the Chinese use two brush strokes to
write the word 'crisis.'
One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for
opportunity.
In a crisis, be aware of the danger - but recognize the
opportunity.
#7487
2) If you have suffered, you are better able to help others
who are suffering.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4,
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort
those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have
received from God.
For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our
lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows."
IV. You need to be prepared now, not later.
A. Get your family ready for hard times.
1) A decent supply of batteries, non-perishable food and
survival gear makes sense.
2) Have a plan in place for what your family would do.
B. Deepen your faith in God before the time of trouble comes.
1) Now is the time to set your life right.
2) Your faith will not magically become stronger in a crisis.
a) Know what God offers you in Jesus Christ.
b) Understand the breadth of Christian experience.
1> Sometimes we are delivered, and sometimes we die.
2> Jews say this prayer on the Day of Atonement:
"On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur will
be sealed ...
who will live and who will die; who will die at his
predestined time and who before his time;
who by water and who by fire,
who by sword and who by beast,
who by famine and who by thirst,
who by earthquake and who by plague,
who by strangling and who by stoning." [2]
That is a very grim prayer - but it covers what we might
face in life, even if we believe in God.
3) Christians are not guaranteed an easy, stress-free life.
a) If anything, God promises us the opposite.
b) But we can have an authentic life with challenges and
blessings.
c) In the end, we will win because God will give us the
victory.
V. Every human is facing a crisis whether they know it or not.
A. We must make a decision for or against God.
1) You must decide if Jesus of Nazareth is who he says he is.
2) Then you must decide what you will do with him.
a) No one knows how much time you have to decide.
b) Jesus said the end will come like a tidal wave.
B. Do you believe these facts?
1) Your God cares for you.
a) Jesus was sent to this earth because God loves you.
b) He wants you to be reconciled to him.
2) Your God can save you.
a) You must surrender your soul to him.
b) You must accept his gift of salvation.
3) Your God rules the universe.
a) We may perceive chaos, but God is still in control.
b) He can turn disasters into victories.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
1. “When the Trucks Stop Delivering, ‘The System’ Will Collapse,” by
Tess Pennington, July 15, 2015; <link>
* A nutritionist in my congregation said hospitals and nursing homes
are required by law to five days of food and water, not one.
[2] “Unetanneh Tokef,” <link>.
The original prayer, as listed in Wikipedia, has “upheaval” but
says “earthquake” is often traditionally used.
# 4630 “Murders Prompt Neighboring Churches To Forge New Ties In Small
Town's Crisis,” by Debbie Moore, Baptist Press (with Goshen.net)
March 16, 1999; <link>.
#65798 “The Man Got Saved, But He Couldn't Save The Boy,” adapted by
Rev. David Holwick from the movie “Faith Like Potatoes”
which was released on October 27, 2006.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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