GOD THE ROCK

 Brightwater 6.6.10

Lauren Rosenberg decided to take a walk in Park City, Utah, on a dark morning January 19, 2009 at around 6am.

Rosenberg fingered her trusted BlackBerry (a so called smart phone) and asked it to tell her just how she might walk between 96 Daly Avenue and 1710 Prospector Avenue. Her BlackBerry turned to the world's great walking resource, Google Maps. Google Maps suggested that she should, as part of her journey, amble along Deer Valley Drive.

Papers filed in the Utah courts by Rosenberg's lawyers describe Deer Valley Drive as "State Route 224, a rural highway with no sidewalks, and a roadway that exhibits motor vehicles traveling at high speeds, that is not reasonably safe for pedestrians."

Rosenberg, during her stroll along State Route 224 also known as Deer Valley Drive, was allegedly struck by a car driven by Patrick Harwood.

She is suing Harwood. And she is also suing Google for suggesting she traveled that route.

Source

 Jacob also known as Israel was on his death bed when he called for his sons. He then began to prophesy over them as to what the future would hold. We pick up the story as Jacob is foretelling Joseph's future.

[Reading from the NIV]

GE 49:22 "Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine near a spring,
whose branches climb over a wall.

GE 49:23 With bitterness archers attacked him;
they shot at him with hostility.

GE 49:24 But his bow remained steady,
his strong arms stayed limber,
because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel …

Jacob was able to remain strong because of this God – This Rock!

The same strength that David was able to call on when he faced Goliath:

1SA 17:37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."

Again, the words of David when he was on the run from an angry King Saul:

2SA 22:1 David sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said:
"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

2SA 22:3 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation.
He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior--

David recounts these times again in the Psalms.

PS 19:14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

PS 31:2 Turn your ear to me,
come quickly to my rescue;

be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.

PS 31:3 Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

PS 31:4 Free me from the trap that is set for me,
for you are my refuge.

In Psalm 62 the words of David facing Absalom's rebellion:

PS 62:5 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.

PS 62:6 He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

PS 62:7 My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

Once more in Psalm 92.

PS 92:15 "The LORD is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."

[MONEY ILLUSTRATION]

Is there anyone in the audience who has a $10 note?

Please come forward with it.

Can you tell me what is the difference between your $10 note and my $5 note?

A perceived value. They are both essentially just pieces of paper with ink on them. Neither has any real worth, and our whole monetary system is based on everyone holding the same perceived value.

Would you swap me your $10 for my $5 since they are both just pieces of paper with printing on?

What if I was to offer you this $20 for your $10 would you swap me? (OK swap).

We value what we are educated to value.

Does anyone have a $2 note? No?

Why not? Because the Government decided that they were too expensive to produce and told us we now have to value $2 coins .. right?

So the $2 note I have is now technically worth nothing. Only a few years ago it was worth one fifth of this $10 note, and now it is worth nothing.

The value of our money is perceived value. It has no inherit value itself.

Does anyone have a $2 coin – swap for my $10?

This coin at least has a scrap metal value.

 The song of Moses.

 DT 32:3 I will proclaim the name of the LORD.
Oh, praise the greatness of our God!

DT 32:4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he...

DT 32:37 He will say: "Now where are their gods,
the rock they took refuge in,

DT 32:44 Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, "Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you--they are your life."

 A flight crew begins work by meeting in the flight planning and dispatch area at an airport some 45 minutes to an hour prior to departure. They will review company notices, air traffic control notices, and the weather forecasts and reports.

They will calculate the minimum amount of fuel required for their flight. Often there are special issues to be considered such as the carriage of cargo requiring special handling and notification, or the presence of VIPs.

On reaching the aircraft, they will check the maintenance records, and review any allowed technical defects that may require adjustments to procedures as applied by the crew.

Despite advances in technology, this procedure has changed little in decades.

The flight crew of TE901 had an additional chore to perform. They were to check the pre-programmed flight route provided by the Navigation section which was stored within the aircraft on-board library. . This involved checking a series of positions or way-points along the route, between the flight plan and the on-board computer.

One pilot would load the route then both pilots would check that the on-board computer entries matched the hard copy co-ordinates on the flight plan. They expected that once they had performed this data checking task with no error, that the aircraft would be able to auto-pilot itself down the 40 mile wide McMurdo Sound.

They expected this because in a briefing by flight operations personnel 19 days earlier, they were shown audio-visual presentation scenes depicting the flight down McMurdo Sound. They were also shown a copy of the current computer generated flight plan.

Later, using the co-ordinates from that flight plan, Captain Jim Collins would plot the route on a chart at home to show his daughters where he would be going. He described McMurdo Sound, and its western side, saying that the aircraft would keep close to that side. He did not mention Mt Erebus.

On the night before the flight, flight planners made what they thought was a small correction. Correcting an earlier mistake made some months previously, when the flight plans were computerized. In their mind, they were only shifting the final Antarctic way-point about two miles, which was the expected error usually found in flights of a similar duration.

According to the airline witnesses, the navigation staff always knew the track ran more or less directly over Mt Erebus, and the shifting of the way-point some two miles would still run the track more or less over the volcano. But in fact, what they had done was to shift the route from McMurdo Sound, to over Mt Erebus, a change of nearly 30 nautical miles.

Source

Flight TE901 was on a collision course with Mount Erebus – one that would end in tragedy.

One small seemingly insignificant change in the destination had a significant impact on the outcome.

ISA 26:4 Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.

So lets pull all this together. What have we been hearing about this morning?

God – the LORD, is a Rock!

Why is this such an important thing to know – I mean it must be important because it is repeated numerous times in Scripture.

We live in a world in turmoil. One where people are lost. They crashing into things and each other. They have forsaken the truths of God, and have decided that there are no moral absolutes. Their currency is forever changing. If they manage to achieve their goals in life they find that these were not really the goals that wanted.

If we forsake the eternal truth, the Rock that holds everything together and gives meaning and purpose we are on shaky ground. We can be sure of nothing. This is why we have a world filled with depression and desperation.

Friends, this morning I want you to be educated as to what you are basing your trust on this morning. We are not talking about perceived value. Your hope is grounded on God the Rock and nothing less.

As a Rock – and we are talking about a bedrock kind of rock, not just a stone. As a Rock God is dependable. He will not waver, he will not suddenly change his mind, he will not bow to external pressures, he will not put us wrong.

Lauren Rosenberg depended on Google maps to give her directions in life. God's directions are better than those of Google maps! They have been around longer, they have been tested and tried and they work. You can depend on the directions of God our Rock.

The Rock that steadied the bow of Joseph was the Rock that delivered David. God is a fortress, a stronghold that will keep us secure if we trust in him.

God is the Rock of our salvation. We can put all our hope in him to save us and he will not let us down. We can depend on him one hundred percent. He will not be shaken and we need not be shaken.

God is a Rock of Righteousness. There is no wickedness in him, he cannot be bought, bribed, or persuaded to do anything that is not 100% purely right.

God is a Rock. A marker that we can plot our life course on. He will not waver, he will change, he will not flip flop. The goal posts will never move. There will be no unexpected mountains in our flight path.

(JAS 1:17) Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

God the Rock will never desert us. There will never be the question asked where is our God – the rock of our refuge?

He does not promise us a trouble free life (not even his own Son had a trouble free life). But he does promise us he is in control, that all things will work together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

God is not sandstone, he is not erodible, he is the Rock eternal. There will be no currency changes. Your trust in God, your hope, your faith, will never be devalued. You will never have to cash it in on another form of currency. God always was ...and always will be... God – the Rock.

I would like to close with one final and familiar passage of Scripture from Matthew 7:24 and it is Jesus speaking:

 MT 7:24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

 Set your course, your compass toward the Rock eternal today.

~Dean McNamara