Understanding The Times and Knowing What To Do How Do We Respond To Our Environment? (Part 3)

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Edward Gardner
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Mailing Address: PO Box 797 Molalla, OR 97038 Phone: 503-829-5101 Fax: 503-829-9502 Pastor Dale Satrum Understanding The Times and Knowing What To Do How Do We Respond To Our Environment?

1 Mailing Address: PO Box 797 Molalla, OR Phone: Fax: Pastor Dale Satrum Understanding The Times and Knowing What To Do How Do We Respond To Our Environment? (Part 3) Intro: One of the hot topics that has been in the media for some time is the condition of the environment. We are bombarded with issues about global warming / deforestation / pollution /dwindling of natural resources / extinction of species. I ll be honest, sometimes I get tired of hearing it. We even have new terminology that goes with this issue ( going green / carbon footprint / biodegradable / hybrids / renewable energy / green house effect / ) Issues of the environment are not just in the far corners of the world, these issues touch us close to home as well. (Willamette River pollution) As followers of Christ, is this an issue He wants us involved in? The environment is a key issue in the times in which we live. How does God want us to respond? Today we answer this! I. Embrace A Biblical Mindset About Creation A. The physical creation belongs to God Deut. 10:14 Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the LORD your God. (NLT) Ps. 24:1 The earth is the LORD s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him. (NLT) Why is this important? Why should we be mindful of this? 1. We are not owners of this world. God is! This physical world we live in belongs to God. Sounds simple yet it matters greatly. 2. When you go over to someone else s house, why are you careful what you do? It s not your house. You don t walk in with mud all over your feet and track mud throughout the house. How would that make you feel if it did happen? Like they didn t respect you or care about you. 3. How we treat the physical world God created reflects our attitude towards God. It shows that we respect God when we treat what is His with respect. 4. Often people make the mistake in thinking that this physical world is ours. Since it s ours we can do to it whatever we want. This is simply not true. This physical world Page 1

2 belongs to God. 5. Several years ago I borrowed someone s power washer to redo my deck (explain breaking it) I felt terrible! Why? It wasn t mine! I damaged something that didn t belong to me. 6. Remembering that this physical world doesn t belong to me makes me more conscientious about how I use it. B. The creation declares the glory of God Ps. 19:1-2 The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. (NLT) Rom. 1:20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. (NLT) 1. The physical creation has an ordained purpose by God. It is to proclaim God s glory / it is a testimony to people who live in this creation of the reality of God. In fact, creation is to reveal God so clearly that it leaves people without excuse. 2. This is one of the things I love about being in nature. It helps me connect with God. I have been in places that have left me without words to describe what I see. (Elk hunting in Hell s Canyon / Alaska scenery / Driving in the mountains around here in the Fall / Vacations and traveling Grand Canyon / snorkeling in Caribbean) 3. If the creation is destroyed / polluted / marred by the excess and greed of mankind, how does it fulfill declaring the glory of God? How does it leave a testimony of God s reality? If the sky is so polluted that we can no longer see the stars, how can people see God? 4. How we treat the physical creation will either enhance its purpose of revealing God or hinder it. I have a hard time seeing the glory of God in a landfill (show pics). Not that we can do away with all landfills. (75% of landfill is recyclable.) 5. But when we see nature / beauty / design / we are confronted with the craftsmanship of the Creator. (slide) As followers of Christ, we of all people should understand the significance of God s testimony of His creation. C. The creation is lovingly cared for by God Ps. 104:10-14 You make springs pour water into the ravines, so streams gush down from the mountains. They provide water for all the animals, and the wild donkeys quench their thirst. The birds nest beside the streams and sing among the branches of the trees. You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home, and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor. You cause grass to grow for the livestock and plants for people to use. You allow them to produce food from the earth. (NLT) 1. God is actively taking care of His creation. He hasn t turned His back on the physical environment He created. He lovingly cares for it. The streams matter to Page 2

3 Him / the birds matter / the plants matter / the rain matters. 2. Since God lovingly and meticulously cares for His creation, how can we think it doesn t matter how we treat it. Are we not made in His image? Should we not reflect His values? Are we not here to represent His interests? 3. I enjoy working outside on my place. I enjoy planting flowers / working on the yard / spraying the weeds / Spring through summer, I meticulously and lovingly care for my yard. BUT, there are these little creatures called moles and they do not share my love for my yard. They seem to enjoy destroying my yard all my hard work! 4. If I didn t care about my yard, I wouldn t care about the evil moles. BUT, since I lovingly take care of it, I take it personal that some evil creature wants to destroy it. 5. I wonder how God feels when people destroy what He loves and cares for. Since God lovingly cares for His creation so should He people. D. The creation will someday be renewed by God Is. 65:17-18 Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore. Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation! (NLT) 1. God values His physical creation so much that someday He is going to completely remake it for us to enjoy. Forever we will get to enjoy this physical creation 2. Our eternity that we get to look forward to has a brand new earth in it. Why is this so significant? Because God values both the spiritual and the physical world He created. It s too easy to elevate one above the other. We see that God values both. 3. Sometimes believers in Christ can fall into this trap. We think that it is the spiritual realm that God cares about and the physical realm really doesn t matter. This is simply not true. If God didn t care about the physical, why will He physically resurrect us someday and then create another physical environment for us to enjoy? From all this biblical evidence, it s very apparent that God places a very high value on this creation. The question that presents itself to us is Because of God s high value for His creation, what should our response be? II. Fulfill Our Responsibility To Care For Creation A. God created us stewards of His creation Gen. 2:8-9,15 Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. The LORD God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. (NLT) 1. The first responsibility given to mankind was to take care of the physical environment God created. God made mankind a steward of His creation. 2. What does it mean to be a steward? According to the dictionary, a steward is one Page 3

4 who manages another person s property / finances / or affairs. This is exactly what God called mankind to do manage His physical creation. 3. So, how do you think we re doing? If He expects us to manage this thing, then I guess issues like pollution / clean air and water / deforestation / and even global warming have to matter. (Not that we fully understand these issues or agree on the extent.) BUT, common sense tells us that pumping sewage into our rivers is probably not good stewardship / increasing the emissions from vehicles so that it pollutes the air even more is not good stewardship. (I remember being on vacation in LA a number of years ago) 4. It s not just governmental leaders who are the stewards we all are stewards according to God s word. We may not be able to set policies or laws, but God would expect us to do what we can in our areas of influence. B. Negligent stewardship harms the people God loves 1. The physical environment was created to bring God glory but it was also designed for the benefit of mankind. God designed a world that was tailor made for the capstone of His creation. It was designed with us in mind. He loves us! 2. It was made to sustain the plant and animal life in a wonderful balance and as a result, bless the people who live in it bless the people God loves. 3. Poor stewardship of the physical creation, not only harms the environment but also harms the people who live in that environment. As believers in Christ, we are called to love people. Destroying the environment God intended to be a blessing is not just unloving to God but unloving to the people He died to save. Phil. 2:4 Don t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. (NLT) Mark 12:31 The second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these. (NLT) Negligent stewardship is unloving! 4. One sixth of the world's population does not have access to clean drinking water. More than 2 million people, most of them children, die each year from water-borne diseases. (Hard for us to embrace living in the Pacific Northwest) 5. Research by UN agencies suggests about 20% of premature deaths worldwide may be attributable to environmental factors. (air / water / food / contaminates ) 6. We must care about the creation because the creation was made to care for us. C. We are accountable to God for this stewardship Rev. 11:18 The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great and for destroying those who destroy the earth." (NIV) II Cor. 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Page 4

5 (NLT) 1. Christians have embraced this compartmentalized faith. Thinking that God is only interested in the spiritual stuff and He is unconcerned with the physical. This is simply not true. We will be held accountable for our stewardship of His creation. 2. You mean to tell me that I am going to stand before God someday and not only give an account for my character but also for my conduct as it relates to the physical world God created? YES! 3. The careless toss of the pop can out the window / the diaper you left up the river / the oil you poured out on the ground instead of recycling / Sending all your garbage to a landfill instead of choosing to recycle what you can. It all matters! 4. I can t change the world but I can do my part. I know that I give much more attention to the things I am accountable for. D. We must embrace practical ways to carry out this stewardship James 1:22,25 But don t just listen to God s word. You must do what it says But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. (NLT) 1. Followers of Christ should be the ones leading the way in restoring the physical creation. I m not saying we buy into everything the typical environmentalist says or we embrace their ideology. (tree hugging; earth first; nature worship; mother earth lovers.) But, we of all people should understand the significance of caring for what God has created! 2. So what do we do? How do we make a difference? How do we apply a message like this as followers of Christ? What does this practical stewardship look like? Let me suggest some ways to get you thinking. 3. Ways to be good stewards of God s creation. Ask God what He would have you do. It s His property maybe we should start by asking Him how He wants us to manage it. Get out of spiritual denial. Embrace this as your responsibility. It matters Start small: Learn to recycle / use the premade grocery bags (Need to tell my wife I m sorry for making fun of her) Think locally: How can we make our geographic area a better place to live? How can we help it reflect the glory of God? Maybe we need a new ministry team. (Kingdom stewards look for ways to improve the physical Think globally: How can we participate in helping the world-wide issues of clean water / food shortages / I know some mission organizations that are targeting farmers to go overseas and teach people how to grow their own food. Pray for God to bring transformation to our geographic area. There are documented stories in these modern days where people have prayed and God Page 5

6 miraculously showed up in communities. He not only transformed the hearts of people, but God also began to renew the environment. In order to help you pray, when you leave today we want to give you a prayer book: Seek God for the City. We ve done this for the past 5 years as a church. Starts Wednesday and goes until Palm Sunday. 40 days of prayer. Back of book: In drastic days, pray great things. Page 6

Questions I ve Always Wanted To Ask God If God Is Good, Why Is There Evil? (Part 2)

Mailing Address: PO Box 797 Molalla, OR 97038 Phone: 503-829-5101 Fax: 503-829-9502 Pastor Dale Satrum Intro: Questions I ve Always Wanted To Ask God If God Is Good, Why Is There Evil? (Part 2) Evil Exists