Pastor John Tilton
June 6, 2021 - W2123

"When It Seems Like the Sky is Falling"

What Do You Do...When  

Pastor John Tilton

June 5 & 6, 2021

Welcome and Aloha, New Hope Oahu--in person and online viewers! It is a pleasure to have you worshipping with us today.  I'm very excited about a new series that we are starting today: "What Do You Do...When," and the message is "When it Seems Like the Sky is Falling." Each week, one of our pastors will teach on: "What do you do when you can't forgive, when your children go astray, when your resources are gone, and when you need a miracle?" 

There are two morals to the story of Chicken Little: 

(1) Don't be a chicken. Have courage in the Lord in these times.  

(2) Don't believe everything you hear; use God's Word and Holy Spirit to discern the times.   

There is not a normalcy to go back to because things have changed during this last year, and rather than thinking about going back to normalcy, we must think about what God has in store for us in this new season!  

DON'T BE SCARED, BUT BE PREPARED! 

There are more deaths from COVID than from all the wars combined and the debt that we are incurring will take generations to recover--it's an economic catastrophe! But rather than getting our minds blown away, look at what Jesus is doing.  

Jesus sacrificed his life on the cross and the End Times started.  We are now in what they call the Last Chapter.  We don't know when Jesus is coming back again, but we can look at current events as signs of the times or birth pains just before He returns. We can be knowledgeable and aware of what's going on so that we are not scared, but prepared! The good news is... 

Matthew 24:6-9 NIV says: "⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains. ⁹ “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me."

Here is a video montage that our video team put together of the events of the past two weeks:

•       Wars in Israel and the Palestinians. 
•       Rumors of wars.  Conflict in the South China Sea. 
•       Earthquakes.  360 earthquakes happened in the last two weeks.    
•       Pestilence and plagues.  COVID; rat and mice infestation; locust infestation.  
•       Riots and civil unrest everywhere, seeing our freedoms and rights lost.  
•       Persecution. Pastor in the UK gets arrested for preaching the sanctity of marriage.   

These are birth pains, and Jesus is coming soon! We need not be fearful, but rather know that "...people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory." Mark 13:26. 

In spite of everything that's going on, we are victorious! Until Jesus comes again, the S?U?N in Hawaii keeps rising; and the S?O?N keeps rising! We have the awareness that Jesus is with us! 

2 Chronicles 20:1-2 NIV says: "After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to wage war against Jehoshaphat. ² Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea.”

Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, was confronted and chased by three armies on three fronts! In 2 Chronicles 20:3-4 NRSV says: "³ Jehoshaphat was afraid...set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴ Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the towns of Judah they came to seek the Lord."

If you are still struggling with finance, jobs, health and they don't seem to go away...  

1. Turn to the Father and His Word

2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV says: "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

•       Pray. Turn to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. 
•       Seek His face by reading His Word and letting His Word read you!

When the world is going crazy, turn to prayer and the Word of God because when we pray, read His Word, and wait on Him, God will hear from heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our land! Further study on this subject, reveals that through the power of the LORD we will find healing, deliverance, restoration, and wholeness!  God not only answers our prayers but He restores us to wholeness--but we must follow His instruction in the Bible! 

The acronym: B?I?B?L?E stands for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.  It sums it all up.  Before the Lord comes the second time, He will give us daily instructions from the Bible. 

Getting back to Jehoshaphat: He turns to the Lord and fasts and prays, but God didn't save them at that moment. They prayed again, but still nothing happened! Do you ever feel that you've prayed and have been faithful, but why isn't your answer coming?  We want instant solutions; but, oftentimes, God says, "It's in my time, not yours.  It's for my purpose, not yours."  In the desert times, God will teach us the greatest lessons of our lives!

2 Chronicles 20:18?22, paraphrase: "Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground and worshipped, and told them twice, "Have faith.  Have faith."  He went to fight against three mighty armies trained to fight and armed with weapons; and he sent out the singers first to praise God: "Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever." And the LORD set ambushes against all the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir--and they were all defeated! The Lord came and defeated the three mighty armies because Jehoshaphat worshipped!     

II. Turn from Fear and Turn to Your Faith  

In worship, Jehoshaphat was saying, "Lord, I trust you so much. I'm singing and praising you.  We're not running. We're not defending ourselves.  We'll praise you in the eye of the enemy because, Lord, we believe in our faith that you are faithful!"  Worship is so important, especially, when you're going through tough times! So, be thankful and step out in faith through worship! 

Let me share a testimony:  Last year we went through a tough time like everyone else, and I remember sharing with you on Wednesday, September 30th: "Here are the tithes and offerings; and here are the bills."  And we prayed. That day, one of our donors came to me and said, "I want to give you my tithe check from my business."  My eyes popped out when I saw the amount of the tithe check!  I know that I know that that was God saying, "I got it. I just want to let you know I got your church.  I love New Hope Oahu!"  

Even though our tithes and offerings were way below average, sometimes $50,000 per week under what we needed, we paid all of our bills in 2020, and closed the year with a net gain better than most years! In that case, three minus five equaled ten!  That's what happened! It didn't add up.  We looked at the financials and said, "Praise God!  That's miraculous!"

III. Embrace Family and Relationships

2 Chronicles 20:13 NIV says: "All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord."

Whole families came before the Lord--wives, children, and little ones--infants! Family and relationships will help with our health, emotions, and all that we're going through; without family, relationships, and fellowship, we can go cuckoo.  Recently, the psychologists and experts said that suicide, addiction, abuse, divorce, mass killings, and even murders, were attributed to isolation and loneliness during the time of COVID.  

This is important to know and understand because we were made for fellowship in a community, to be family--that's New Hope as we reopen.  We've been Doing Church as a Team, D?C?A?T; but now we'll be D?C?A?F, Doing Church as a Family!  People need community and we're inviting them to come to New Hope where they are loved and valued!  If you're an old?timer, welcome home!  If you're a newcomer, welcome to your new family--the family is everything!  

Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV says: "²⁴ And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."

Here's something very important: God created us to be family.

• Seek Wholeness and Unity.  “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” Psalm 133:1.
• You Are Family. “...in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:5. 
• Train Up Your Family. "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, and we are called to train up our children in the ways of the Lord." Psalm 127:3. "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6.

Parents, your responsibility is your children because God gave them as gifts to you.  We don't know what tomorrow holds, but we know who holds tomorrow!  So, train up your children.  

I'll close with a video of my grandson, the greatest basketball player ever! Mike is 12 years old and goes to Kamehameha School. His year?end project was to write a spoken word or a poem and share it with his sixth-grade class on any subject--he decided to write about God! 

[Video by Mike]

Lost. What have we lost?  We have lost innocent people, and everything comes at a cost.  Now, our money is being tossed.  Our world is breaking.  Racism, riots, COVID, cancer, flu.  If we come to Christ, we are all made new.  We all need to come to God because we do not want to be the snakes for Moses's rod.  We wander.  We fight.  We are losing our might.  We are giving up.  Now it is time to stand up.  We need to trust in our God.  

Today is a new age where we are losing wage after wage, and it feels like we are locked up in a cage.  We are running out of time, so follow Jesus.  They may tease us, but we are His.  

Religions, religions, religions.  Christianity.  We have the one true God, the true Messiah.  Adonai is the real God.  God is our rock.  We are His flock.  Open the door when He will knock.  Keep Him in your heart so the devil will not tear you apart.  If you keep God in your heart, He'll allow you to follow His path and not feel His wrath.  

You see Israel being attacked with rockets and Israel fighting back with Iron Domes while we are here brushing our hair completely unaware of what is going on out there.  We are getting lost by the minute.  Once our world is back to normal, it will all be formal, but will the world ever be the same?  Will we ever be the same?  

[End Video] 

STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. What are the two morals to Chicken Little's story?
2. Share an experience you had of being scared, but you were prepared. What happened?
3. Why is it that after you've prayed and have been faithful, your answer is not coming?  
4. What are some of the birth pains that we are experiencing?