February 9th, 2018

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ReferencePoint

Friday, February 9th, 2018

The story of Ernest Shackleton is told in several different books of note. You can find one here and another one here.  Long story short Shackleton’s men were stranded on Elephant Island in the Antarctic and had survived a winter and a harsh summer trying to be the first to cross the Antarctic. But the ice had sunk their ship and they now found themselves stranded. On April 24, 1916 Shackleton and six companions shoved off from Elephant Island holding little hope they would see the 21 men they left behind. Their only hope was to be found on South Georgia Island, 800 miles away. One small boat fighting bitter cold, icebergs, waves up to 70 feet high, and 80 mph winds. They reached South Georgia Island in the heart of a hurricane which sank larger vessels. (There is more to the story). The only hope of a sailor surviving in those days was finding a reference point, generally the North Star.

What about us? What about when the storms hit? What will we do when they do? Where will we look? Friends? Inside ourselves? A bottle? There is a story in the Bible of a man named Job who had to be wondering, “What in the world is going on?” His story provides some answers for us.

This week I start a new 11 weeks series called True North. Reference Point is the first in that series. I’m excited about preaching it. Now…I just gotta hope the folks are excited about hearing it.  🙂  In any case, I’d appreciate your prayers ahead of time, or even afterwards.

Thanks to Ryan (techgeek) for designing the banner. I have the ideas; he has the skills.