Sermon on Tragedy: God Is Trying To Tell Us Something
Categories: Sermon Outlines, Topical Sermon Outlines Tags: Sermons on GodPROPOSITION: To teach the things God is trying to tell us in tragedy.
OBJECTIVE:To inform the hearer of God’s message to be found in tragedy.
INTRODUCTION:
1. Many things about this world make it a place in which tragedy can happen.
1) Human selfishness. Freedom of choice.
2) Natural law.
2. Far too much tragedy has been in the news lately for comfort.
1) Lives have been cut short.
2) The lives of travelers.
3) The lives of school children.
4) The lives of some of the best and brightest our state has to offer.
3. God expects us to learn from tragedy. He is trying to tell us something.
1) There is a warning in tragedy.
2) There is motivation in tragedy.
3) There is remembrance in tragedy.
DISCUSSION:
I. LIFE IS FRAGILE.
1. Life is likened to a vapor. James 4:14
2. All flesh is as grass. 1 Peter 1:24
3. We have no idea what tomorrow may bring. Proverbs 27:1
4. We cannot control the length of our days. Luke 12:19, 20
[With this firmly in our minds let us further note:]
II. OUR TIME FOR SERVICE TO GOD IS LIMITED.
1. Consider the Parable of the Talents. Matthew 25:14ff
2. All of us have been given talents and opportunities.
3. The reckoning will come all too soon. v. 19
4. Have you dealt faithfully with what the Lord has entrusted with you? Note the reward of the five talent man. vv. 20, 21
5. Will you find yourself trying to make excuses when he comes. 24-31
1) Have you taught that neighbor?
2) Have you uplifted that brother?
3) Have you supported that good brother in a faraway land?
4) Have you relieved that widow or orphan?
5) Have you visited the sick and shut-in?
6) Do your children remain untaught?
7) Have you studied that Bible?
8) Did you attend that service?
9) Or will you simply have to say, “Well, I was going to!”
10)What are you doing with your time instead?
6. When your time comes to an end there is no better way to be found by God than in the course of doing your duty.
7. Life is fragile. Be found doing your duty.
[Another thing God teaches us by the fragile nature of this life is that…]
III. OUR TIME TO DEAL WITH SIN IS LIMITED.
1. We must deal with sin.
1) All have sinned. Romans 3:23
2) Sin separates us from God. Isaiah 59:2
3) There are terrible consequences for failing to deal with sin. Rev. 20:11-15
4) A plan has been given for dealing with sin.
a. Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:16; Luke 24:46-47
b. Acts 2:38; 3:19; 22:16
c. It must be acted on now!!!
2. The present time is stressed in scripture. 2 Corinthians 6:2
3. It’s too late after we die.
1) After death is the judgment. Hebrews 9:27
2) There is a great gulf fixed. Luke 16:26
4. The saddest thing about a life cut short is that there are no more opportunities to obey the gospel.
5. I have heard of:
1) Children who were prevented by their parents because they were too young. They never had the chance again.
2) Those who said “next Sunday.” It never came.
6. I wonder how many have said, “I’ll repent tomorrow.” And the Lord says, “Thou fool, this day thy life is required of thee.”
[God is trying to tell us something in tragedy. His lessons of motivation and warning have been given. Yet, there is another message. A message of great abiding comfort. This message is that…]
IV. THERE IS A LIFE TO COME IN WHICH THERE IS NO TRAGEDY. THERE IS VICTORY.
1. 1 Corinthians 15:51-57
2. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
3. John 14:1-3
4. Rev. 21:1-7
CONCLUSION:
1. How we are affected by tragedy depends on us. Job 1:20, 21
2. Are we hearing the message of God in tragedy?
1) Do you realize that life is fragile?
2) Do you know that your time for doing God’s will is limited?
3) Do you know that your time for dealing with sin is limited?
4) Have you been reminded of the life of victory to come?