WHAT WILL I DO WITH 1999 - Harold Shank



WHAT WILL I DO WITH 1999?

Harold Shank

December 27, 1998

Main Text: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. IN this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that you faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:3-9

1. Most of us are thinking about next year

b. 1998 is gone and 1999 is coming

c. This is the last year of the century

d. It is the last year of the millennium

e. It is resolution time

2. We think about FAMILY

c. We want to spend more time

d. We want to plan more activities

e. We want to teach values

f. We want to have that talk

3. We think about FINANCES

d. We want to get out of debt in 1999

e. We want to start a savings account in 1999

f. We want to buy or sell a house in 1999

4. We think about FITNESS

e. We want to lose weight, eat better and exercise

f. Even as I say that most of us pull in our stomachs

g. I could hear a large rush in air being breathed in in first service

5. We think about FUTURE

f. The media is talking about the millennium

g. Year 2000 - Mildred

h. Maranatha is Highland’s theme for 1999

i. Whatever the future, we want the Lord to come quickly

6. What should be the most important thing we do in 1999?

a. Family, Finances, Fitness, Future?

b. The most important thing that we need to do in 1999 is to follow Jesus.

7. Why is giving yourself to Jesus the most important thing to do?

h. It might help with family, finances, fitness and future

i. But there are three other issues that we can’t face without Jesus

j. Finality, Failure, and Futility

8. # 1 - FINALITY

9. In June of 1998 Daniel Shank and I were in Ukraine

j. I had just taught a Bible Study

k. I went over to Mark Kledzik’s house

l. Daniel met me at the door

m. He said, “Can you come with me to the kitchen where we can talk in private?”

n. He said, “Grandpa just died.”

o. He went on the tell me that Sally Shank had sent an e-mail

10. It happened all so sudden, so unexpected

a. On Wednesday he had taken a motorcycle ride with Sally’s cousin

b. On Friday he was in the hospital

c. On Sunday, he was gone

11. It brought our family face to face with finality

l. Grandpa is gone

m. Life comes to an end

12. Death is not something we can ignore in 1999

m. It will happen to millions of people

n. It has a good chance of touching me and you

o. 1999 could be the last year of my life

p. So how do we live in 1999 facing finality?

13. “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the

resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can

never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you, who through faith are

shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be

revealed in the last time.” - 1 Peter 1:3-5

a. For those who gave themselves to Christ, there will be a resurrection

b. There is an inheritance

c. There is future life

14. The funeral in Iowa

o. Was held after Daniel Shank and I returned from Ukraine

p. The family asked me to speak

q. I told how Grandpa had loved to fly

r. He worked for TWA and owned his own small airplane

s. He flew in World War 2 and also as a private pilot

t. I said that everytime you look to the sky, you can think of Grandpa

u. Then Daniel Shank led the church in a song titled “I’ll Fly Away”

15. I can tell you this

p. If we did not have Christ, I don’t know how we would have dealt with

finality

b. If I didn’t have Christ, I don’t know how I would face my own death

16. What is the most important thing you can do in 1999?

q. Follow Jesus

r. Follow Jesus by believing that he can give life after death

s. Repent of the ways of living that lead to death

t. Join him in the death, burial, and resurrection by baptism

u. Let him lead you to a new life

17. #2 - FAILURE

18. What is the worst thing you have done?

s. A one night stand?

t. Hit your child?

u. Murdered someone?

v. Killed someone with your car?

w. Gossiped or lied?

x. Embezzled?

y. Cheated the IRS?

19. Maybe not the worst thing, but repeated failure

t. Snappy with your spouse

u. Overeating or overspending

v. Look at what you shouldn’t look at

w. Do it over and over again

How do we deal with these failures?

The worst thing we have done

Repeated mistakes

Christianity is simple

Failure puts us in darkness

Failure removes our personhood

Failure takes away mercy

Then comes Jesus

He brings light, personhood and mercy

A movie called “Mission” was shown in 1986

Robert DeNiro plays a slave hunter who goes to the South American

wilderness

In a series of events, the slave hunter kills his brother

The slave hunter becomes a recluse and refuses to participate in life

The priest goes to see him and calls him a coward

The slave hunter turns to the priest and says, “For me there is no redemption”

What do we do with the failures in life?

Maybe we can forget a one night stand

We apologize for hitting our child

We serve time for that murder

We do community service for that accident

We try to undue the wrong of gossip, lying, cheating the IRS

We try to break out of repeated failures

But somewhere our failures catch up with us

We owe too much

We are in too deep

Listen to 1 Peter 2:9-10

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people

belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you

out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now

you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have

received mercy.”

Because of Jesus we can move from darkness to light

Because of Jesus we can move from nobody to somebody

Because of Jesus we who had no mercy, get mercy

What’s the most important thing that you can do in 1999?

Follow Jesus

Believe he can remove failure

Repent of friendship with Satan which leads to failure

Be baptized where failures of life are washed away

# 3 - FUTILITY (Meaningless)

Jean Herri Fabre, a famous French naturalist (1823-1915)

Told of encountering a procession of caterpillars in the woods

They were marching in a long unbroken line

They marched front to back, front to back

He thought it would be fun to make a complete ring of these worms

Let them march in a circle

So Fabre captured enough caterpillars to encircle the rim of a flower pot

He put them front to back, front to back

They started walking around the enclosed circle

For days they were a perpetual merry-go-round

Although food was near and accessible (they did not stop to eat)

The caterpillars finally starved to death on their mission to nowhere

People are not caterpillars, but sometimes we find ourselves on a mission to nowhere

Jack Higgins in THE EAGLE HAS LANDED

Now at the high point in his career

He said there was one thing he wished that he had known when he was a young boy

“When you get to the top, there’s nothing there”

Lee Iacoccca, STRAIGHT TALK

“Here I am in the twilight years of my life, still wondering what it is all

about…..I can tell you this, fame and fortune is for the birds”

Stanley Shipp, speaking at the National Campus Ministry Seminar in 1995

He started talking about his tombstone

He didn’t care what they put on it

Except he did not want it to say this

Here likes Stanley Shipp. He lived 90 years, Nobody knows why

Some time in 1999 each of us will wonder: Is life worth living?

We will feel like a caterpillar

We will get to the top and nothing will be there

We may come into some money, but there is nothing there either

We may live 90 years and nobody knows why

1 Peter 1:18

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver and gold that

you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your

forefathers”

But Jesus rescued us from futility

What are we rescued for?

1 Peter 2:21

“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example

that you should follow in his steps.”

I’m not a caterpillar following other caterpillars in front of me

I’m a Christian following Jesus in serving others, showing mercy and seeking the lost

When I get to the top, it is an opportunity to serve and make a difference

When I get money, it is an opportunity to show mercy

When I get 90 years old, I will have had 90 years of helping people come to Christ to receive glory now and forever

What is the most important thing that you can do in 1999?

Follow Jesus

Believe he gives life meaning

Repent of meaningless ways of living

Take up his cross in baptism, deny self and live for him everyday

THERE IS ONE MORE CRITICAL POINT TO SEE ABOUT 1999 AND

JESUS

Jesus admits that there are problems in life (Finality, Failure and Futility)

Christianity starts with the problems in life

That is not where most people are

We try to avoid these issues

Even now you are thinking, I’m not going to die in 1999

I haven’t failed in any significant way

I don’t feel like life is futile

You may feel that way

But it is not real

You will die

You will fail

You will face futility

That is where Jesus starts

1.- JESUS STARTS WITH FINALITY

He did not come to minister to the well, but the sick

He did not avoid the death, pain, and ugliness of life

Read the Gospels: Jesus started with death

Jesus starts with Mitch destroying 7,000 lives and Hitler taking 6,000

The starting point of the Christian faith is humanity going to die unless God does something

Following Jesus is of great benefit

If you follow Jesus today, you never have to struggle again with finality

You can go to bed tonight knowing that if this life ends, you have another life to come

2.- JESUS STARTS WITH FAILURE

He did not come to condemn the world

We knew that we were condemned

He came to save the world

One of the first things he did was face temptation

He has looked at the face of Satan

He knew about the woman found in the act of adultery

He knew about the thief on the cross

Following Jesus is of great benefit

If you follow Jesus today, not failure can ever defeat you

Jesus has paid the price to set you free

3- JESUS STARTS WITH FUTILITY

He knew that we were like sheep without a shepherd

He knew the world is a confusing, chaotic place

Jesus said, “I came that they might have life and have it abundantly

Following Jesus is of great benefit

IF you follow Jesus today, you will never have to live without purpose

ever again

You become part of a wonderful movement of people marching for a

heavenly cause

Jesus didn’t ignore the problems of life

He starts with them

He shows us a way out

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