Our Escape Plan
Notes
Transcript
The Plan
The Plan
A couple of weeks ago I rec’d a text from my son who lives in NW Arkansas that read, “We’re okay.”
Then came, “A tornado touched down about a mile west of our house.”
I so don’t miss that weather!
I grew up in Wichita, tornado alley. And I was taught at a very young age what I needed to do when the tornado sirens went off.
In Wichita, the old neighborhoods, not every house had a basement. In some cases, every 3rd house had one.
So, you better hope your neighbors liked you.
B/C, you need a basement. Or, a way to get into an interior closet or bathroom.
Now, my kids live there. If you draw a line from OKC to Joplin, it will run thru Tulsa and NWA. If you know your weather history, you know the last 10 years have had some major storms blow thru there.
When I was young, my grandparents had a basement, but we didn’t. So, it didn’t matter what time of night it was or how hard it was raining, we drove to their house if the sirens went off.
Had to have a flashlight w/ good batteries. A radio for weather reports and updates, also w/ good batteries.
When Sara and I were first married, I’m in seminary. We own a house in an eastern suburb of Dallas. The house is built on a slab of concrete.
So, the plan is an interior bathroom, get in the tub, cover up w/ a mattress.
Sirens go off. Sara doesn’t have a clue why I’m frantically tearing the sheets off our bed yelling at her to get into the bathtub.
The kids in AR have a plan. Their washer/dryer closet. Protected by the walls and the steel in the appliances w/ mattresses around them.
If they don’t follow the plan entirely, then they are much more likely to get hurt.
You have to have a plan. It’s got to be a good plan. And, you have to follow the plan for it to work. While the plan is for the future and what might happen, it affects how you live your life until you need to implement the plan.
Keep an eye on the weather.
Flashlight, phone, batteries.
Communication if the power is out and the cell tower is damaged.
It is foolish to live in tornado alley w/out a tornado plan.
There are many stories about families who hid in an interior closet or bathroom during a storm. When they came out after the storm, that close was the only thing left of their house.
They were left standing after the storm b/c they had a good plan, it worked, and they were ready to follow it when they needed it.
We have to have some plans here in MP. A couple of years ago I was part of a committee that put together plans for what to do in case of a disaster.
(Show the notebook)
Ice and snow event.
Forest fire,
Earthquake
Tornado.
Flood
Hazardous material spill on the interstate.
Bob Nastan chaired the committee. The fire chief, Len Friedland (neighborhood watch), Chip Murphy (CERT), Jim (GM of the Sanitary Dist.) Tom Gulliver (ret. fire fighter), Me church and emergency shelter.
I have notebook in my office in the event of an emergency I can pull it out and get to work.
You guys don’t need to know the plans. You just need to know there are plans, they are good plans, and make sure you have the Ready, Set, Go app on your phone so you get the info when you need it.
The plans have been made and they will be revealed to you when you need them.
In the mean time, get the app, keep an eye on the news, be ready to evacuate fast in the event of a fire, know what you need to grab and have it close at hand, keep your phone charged.
If you’re going to live in the forest in the summertime, this is how we need to live our lives.
If the fire comes up from the SW, we’re not letting you drive south in I17.
Fires can travel between 30 and 70 mph.
There has to be a plan.
When your life is in danger, you need an escape plan or a shelter in place plan.
It has to be a good plan. So, the one making needs to know what they are doing.
The plan needs to work. We have to be able to count on the plan. Otherwise, what’s the point?
We will live in fear of what might happen.
Do you think God was caught off guard by COVID 19, this virus crisis?
Do you think He was unprepared for the economic disaster?
Do you think He is surprised by the racism, riots, and looting going on right now?
Do you think there is anything that could happen in your life that God does not have a plan for nor prepared you for?
Whatever you’re dealing w/ right now.
When the storm passes, and you come out of your closet, will you be left standing?
God has a plan for the biggest storms we will face.
He put it together Himself, it’s been in place since before creation, and He knows what He’s doing.
It’s a good plan. It will work if we follow it when we need it.
If we do something else, only part of His plan, none of it, then it won’t work. That’s our plan, not His.
And in preparation to follow His plan when we need it in the future, it will affect how we live our lives now.
So, what’s the plan? Or, rather, Who’s the plan?
The Plan
The Plan
He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
He had just written that we are redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus. He’s the Who.
And, the what is to obey the plan. And, obedience begins w/ belief. Believe in the Who and what He came to do and then do whatever He asks you to do.
Notice when the plan was put in place.
Jesus was chosen for this role before God created anything.
Jesus is God’s plan A. There is no plan B.
The question begs, if God knew Adam and Eve were going to mess up why didn’t He do something to prevent it?
Why was that tree even an option?
There are parts of this conundrum I can’t answer. I don’t know.
But, the parts I do know, God wants us to choose to obey Him, not be forced to do it. And, He has proved a way to fix what broke when they chose not to obey Him.
Like raising my kids. If I force them to do everything when they are little and make every decision for them, they never learn how to do that and will flounder as adults.
God has given us all the resources we need, offers all the help and guidance necessary if we will only ask. Then, we get to make the decision ourselves.
We value the opportunity to make choices. Nobody wants t/b anybody else’’s puppet, even God’s.
Where we struggle is we wish God would not give everyone the same freedom to choose.
I should get that freedom. I’m responsible. I’ll do a good job with it.
But, Hitler shouldn’t have.
But, it doesn’t work that way. Everyone gets the freedom to choose what they are going to do and say. Some people have more power, authority, and opportunity for bad and good than others.
Maybe God should just let the good people have the freedom to choose.
There’s just one problem with that. None of us are that good. We may not be Hitler, but we’re bad enough.
And, the plan He has in place allows for good to come from every situation and circumstance, no matter how bad the choices and consequences may be.
He put the plan together before anything else was created. Nobody understood it until Jesus came the first time.
Jesus is the evacuation plan. He is the gate, the door, thru which we must go.
We have to have faith in the plan.
Part of the plan for evacuating MP if there is a forest fire bearing down on us is to block access to the forest.
The fire may be a long way away and heading out the 240, east, away from it, may seem to make some level of sense at that time.
First of all, it’s the forest. That’s where the fire is.
Second, how fast can you drive in your car on those roads? 45, maybe.
The fire can travel faster than that. How long before it catches you?
You have a good plan, have to have faith in the plan, and have to hope the plan gets you to safety.
Driving into the forest in forest fire is a bad plan.
God has make His plan clear to us. Believe in Jesus. We have to have faith in the plan, faith in the person.
If the plan is good, then we have hope. It will get us out of trouble.
That’s what Peter is saying. There is no plan B. But, we don’t need a plan B. Plan A will work if we will just implement the plan.
And, if we accept the plan for the future when we will be in trouble and need an escape, then there are things we need to do today.
Like having fresh batteries for a flashlight, a generator and fuel, and communication abilities ready to use.
B/C we’ve bought into the plan, there are things we need to do now.
The Preparations
The Preparations
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For,
“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
And this is the word that was preached to you.
The first act of obedience is to believe it. God says believe it. So, to obey Him is to believe that Jesus is the escape plan and there is no other.
At that moment we believe, Jesus sends the HS to indwell us, He baptizes us on the inside.
We look different to God. (colored cloth)
Like purifying silver. It’s pure when you can see your image in it.
We are pure when God can see His image in us.
God chooses to renew our minds so we can choose Him.
B/C we choose Him, we are purified and He sees His image in us.
God said, “Be holy because I am holy.”
Be different. Look different. Act different.
Holy living requires purification. Purification enables us to prepare to carry out the plan.
The first part of the preparation for our escape plan is love each other, fellow believers, deeply.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The renewed mind (head and heart).
Our hearts are changed so we can be passionate about what God is passionate about. And, He is passionate about His ppl.
He loves everybody, Jesus died for everybody. God is passionate about His own.
He is passionate about His own who wear a badge.
He is passionate about His own who different skin colors.
He is passionate about His own who own businesses and employ ppl.
He is passionate and expects us t/b just as passionate for these.
How do we do this? How do we stay prepared and love ea other deeply?
Last week:
Keep your mind prepared for action.
Stay self-controlled and sober.
Hope only the grace of Jesus
Don’t conform to the evil in the world
Be holy.
How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
We cannot separate our relationship w/ God and our relationship w/ each other and every other believer.
The Christian life is not lived in isolation.
We are imperfect ppl who live among other impfct ppl and we’re all going to say and do things that hurt each other.
Growth in God’s word helps us do these things less and less.
Trials refine our faith. God’s word refines our character. We make better choices that hurt ppl less.
Love each other, regardless of skin color, b/c you have been set apart by obedience to the truth.
And, b/c you have been reborn and love si the essence of the new nature you now have that the HS brought w/ Him into you.
Our first birth, when our moms delivered us, gave us a corrupt nature. Our second birth, when God delivered us, gave us a pure nature.
Where is the church? We set ourselves apart by participating in behaviors that tear down. We build each other up.
c.1 church, where were they?
Here Peter quotes Is. 40. Isaiah wrote to Israel when they had been exiled, run out of their land. They were facing difficult circumstances, starting over. Many had died. Families were split up. Wealth was gone.
That’s right where the church was as Peter wrote.
What he’s saying is despite your difficult situation, the plan is still in place and promises of God are still in force.
Neither God, nor the plan, are failing.
In fact, this is why the plan is in place.
Your flower is going to fade. Your blade of grass is going to wither.
Your skin is going to wrinkle, hair is going gray and fall out, your eyes are going dim, and your hearing is going to fade.
When our lives are in danger, that’s when God’s plan goes into affect.
In order to get to the next life, this life is going to have to come to an end.
B/C they come to an end, it is not an indication that God has forgotten you or His promises have failed you.
His plan is not about finding heaven on earth. It’s about finding heaven after earth.
It’s not that He’s not concerned about us and our lives here. It’s that He’s much more concerned about our lives in heaven and getting us there.
In Is. 40 the ppl were complaining wondering if God had forgotten them. Same in 1 Peter 1.
What about now, you and me?
“If God has forgotten me, then forget Him.” I’m out.
He hasn’t. His promises are forever.
Israel, the c.1 church, now us, we are facing the consequences of bad choices. Maybe ours, maybe others.
By God’s grace, hard will end and glorious will last forever.
This life is going to end. Prepare for the next. Live today as if you’ll live forever.
And, if you understand how much grace it takes to get you to heaven, you’ll be able to extend the same grace to everyone who takes you thru hell on earth.
In heaven there is no hell. There are no bad choices. There is no shrapnel flying around.
What are the odds you’ll experience a tornado? ??
Forest fire?
They say, whoever they are, that in a few years 80% of us will have had COVID 19 and be immune.
We have to have a plan for these things.
There is a better than 99% chance that in the next 100 years every person on earth will die. The entire earth’s population will turn over.
If we’ve got a forest fire plan and the odds are so slim that we will face such an event, how much more important is it that we have an escape plan for when we die!
The plan is laid out in God’s word. And, in my lifetime there has never been a more critical time for us to live today like we have all faith and hope in God’s plan.
Applications
Applications
Prepared to love?
Prepared to love?
Whom do you need to be prepared to act like you love?
We don’t have a real diverse population here in MP. There is in the valley. There is a Reservation close by.
Are you prepared to love, respect, value the life of, sacrifice for those who don’t look like you, sound like you, have the same lifestyle as you.
When you need to, you won’t be able to unless you have pre-meditated and prepared your mind for it when the time comes.
Whom do you need t/b prepared to love?
Recommit
Recommit
Do you need to recommit to God’s plan.
Has the last couple of months been so hard that you have consciously or subconsciously wandered away from God’s plan.
By God’s plan I mean Jesus.
Life gets hard, fear is real, stress is difficult. What might happen. Health. Finances. Worried about family.
You’ve taken on things for yourself that God can handle so much better.
Recommit to the plan. Know your role. What you are supposed to do and only do that.
What have you taken on yourself that you need to let go?
What have you neglected that you need to do?
The Plan
The Plan
What’s your plan?
Cryogenics? Freeze your head?
Save some of your genetic material and get cloned?
Expect medicine to improve to the point it will keep you alive forever?
Or, Jesus?
Which makes the most sense?
Really, do you want the body you have now to last forever? Or, do you want the new one you will get when Jesus meets you in heaven?
Faith in God’s plan. Faith in God’s person.
That’s plan A. There is no plan B.
There has to be a plan.
When your life is in danger, you need an escape plan or a shelter in place plan.
It has to be a good plan. So, the one making needs to know what they are doing.
The plan needs to work. We have to be able to count on the plan. Otherwise, what’s the point?
We will live in fear of what might happen.
Do you think God was caught off guard by COVID 19, this virus crisis?
Do you think He was unprepared for the economic disaster?
Do you think He is surprised by the racism, riots, and looting going on right now?
Do you think there is anything that could happen in your life that God does not have a plan for nor prepared you for?
Whatever you’re dealing w/ right now.
When the storm passes, and you come out of your closet, will you be left standing?
God has a plan for the biggest storms we will face.
He put it together Himself, it’s been in place since before creation, and He knows what He’s doing.
It’s a good plan. It will work if we follow it when we need it.
If we do something else, only part of His plan, none of it, then it won’t work. That’s our plan, not His.
And in preparation to follow His plan when we need it in the future, it will affect how we live our lives now.