1. Titanic Mania -- fascination with the Titanic is at an all-time high. There's the Academy Award-winning movie, the video was released several weeks ago, endless TV shows and articles, and a Broadway musical. Some of the richest people in the world were on that ship. The Titanic's architecture and paintings were expensive and majestic. It was an engineering marvel, and the newspapers even reported that "God can't even sink this ship." How wrong they were.

   I find it odd that Christians would invest their time and money to see a movie about a sinking ship and yet have such an apathetic attitude about a Risen Savior.
   A search on the Internet will bring you tons of information available about the sinking of that "unsinkable" ship back in 1912. Most of this information. has been known for decades, but suddenly there's a huge appetite to know more and more. Like the tragic mistake made that fatal night by a radioman on the Titanic. The ship had received a number of warnings about ice ahead, and had adjusted her course southward as a result. But two hours before the Titanic hit the iceberg, the radioman received a warning from another ship about a major iceberg, along with the longitude and latitude coordinates. They put that iceberg right in Titanic's path. It's the one that sank the ship. But the radioman didn't know it was in their path. He was busy that night, so he stuck that message on a spindle where it could be dealt with later. That one choice doomed him--and 1500 other passengers who died that night.

   That just makes the tragedy even more tragic. The warning of what was coming was sent, it was received, but a man decided he'd deal with it later. And later was too late. When the warning is life-or-death, you don't wait to deal with it.

   Especially if the warning is from God .... Especially if the warning is about what's ahead for you.

   Hebrews 2:1-3 says, "We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him."

   If we ignore God's warning the results will certainly be eternally fatal.

2. Where are you headed?
   1. 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?" Look back over the last year and do a self assessment of your spiritual life and growth.
      Think about the last 12 months and ask yourself..........
      1. While thinking about Spiritual Growth.
         Has there been a significant improvement in your spiritual life or are you at the same spiritual maturity level?
         2 Corinthians 5:16-17; Philippians 3:12-16
      2. While thinking about Priorities in your life; list the things that you spend your time doing. Is most of your time invested in eternal matters or in temporal and material possessions?
         Matthew 6:33, v.19-24; Colossians 3:1-4
      3. Now consider your spiritual consistency outside the walls of the church building. Does your daily walk match your talk?
         Colossians 3:5-11 - Put to death and get rid of...
         Colossians 3:12-17 - Put on and clothe yourself with...

3. What's the warning about our future?
   1. I'm wondering if you might have drifted off course, like the Titanic on her last night, steaming headlong for a deadly rendezvous.
      Hebrews 3:12-14, "See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first."
   2. James 4:13-17 - Two General Considerations
      1. The insecurities of planning without God. (James 4:13)
         Imagine yourself as the final authority of your life and take God completely out of the picture and then live like it. You'll find a hunger for selfish gain and a presumptuous view of the future.
         1. Select a location that pleases you.
         2. Selfishly choose your own time and schedule.
         3. Limit your stay to please yourself.
         4. Arrange activities for your own benefit and pleasure.
         5. Predict your profit and boast about it.
         James is attacking horizontal thinking and planning that has no place for God.
         God condones wise planning that is according to His will and that acknowledges His Sovereignty over our lives.
         Ephesians 5:15-17
      2. The Securities of planning life with God. (James 4:14-17)
         If we leave God out of the picture, we'll never be satisfied in this life and ultimately we lose.
         "He who dies with the most toys DOES NOT win!!!"
         1. (14a) Tomorrow's circumstances are totally uncertain.
         2. (14b) We have no assurance of how long life will be here on this earth.
            Psalms 90:1-6
         3. (15) We have no right to ignore God's will. (Psalms 14:1 A fool says there is no God)
         4. (15) The person who plans with God in mind lives on after death.
            1. They live on in our memories.
            2. The influence of a person lives on after they're gone.
            3. Most importantly, a person doing God's Will on earth, lives on in eternity.
         5. (16-17) No need to boast or brag about our human achievements....
            Find out what God's Will is for your life from The Word
            and then "JUST DO IT!!!"

4. What Time Is It In Your Life?
   1. Our time is short here in this life and every day we're one day closer to meeting Him face-to-face.
      This isn't morbid and it isn't something that should be dreaded or feared.
      As God's children we should look forward to our Homecoming and eternal reunion.
      What have you accomplished for God so far in your life?
      Our age is compared to the hours in a day and gives us something to reflect on.....

      WHAT TIME IS IT?
            If you are 20 years old ..........11:08 a.m.
            If you are 30......................1:25 p.m.
            If you are 35......................2:59 p.m.
            If you are 40......................4:16 p.m.
            If you are 45......................5:33 p.m.
            If you are 50......................6:50 p.m.
            If you are 55......................8:07 p.m.
            If you are 60 .....................9:24 p.m.
            If you are 65.....................10:41 p.m.
            If you are 70+....................11:15 p.m.
      

      The sinking of the Titanic has become a legend because most people didn't believe that this mighty ship could or would sink. They placed their trust in the wrong place and consequently over 1500 people died a cold, watery death. And there is nothing romantic about that !!!

   2. Where have you placed your trust?
      1. Hebrews 9:27-28
         God says there are people who are forever safe and people who are headed for eternal destruction. The difference is the relationship they have with God and with His Son Jesus. You can do a lot of things with Jesus: you can reject Him . . . or ignore Him . . . or postpone Him. But all of those responses lead to the same place--eternity without God in a place He calls hell.
      2. My question to you, "Do you really know Jesus?"
         If not, you're still ignoring God's warning about eternity. He says we can't possibly escape if we neglect this great salvation. He calls it salvation because it's a rescue from a death sentence. Jesus dying on that awful cross--that was God's Son paying the death penalty for the sinning we've done. Our only hope is to put our total trust in Him--the only One who can rescue us from sin and its penalty.

So you have the warning. Maybe you've been saying, like a radioman on the Titanic that night, I'll deal with it later. Please don't do that. When a warning is life-or-death, the only time to deal with it is now. While there's time. Without Jesus, you are steaming full speed into an eternity without hope. Deal with God's warning now. And you'll be on course for a guaranteed arrival in heaven when your journey's done.