This message was delivered by the Reverend Donald Ng, Senior Pastor of First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco during the church trip to Yosemite National Park in 2003<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God Provides<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n God created us with glory and gave us responsibilities for taking care of the world and for each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What might you do to care for the earth\u2014people and the environment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n As God provides for us, we are to provide for others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGod will Provide for Us.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a story about a young woman who brought her fianc\u00e9 home to meet her parents. After dinner, her mother told her father to find out about the young man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The father invited the fianc\u00e9 to his study for a talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo what are your plans?\u201d the father asked the young man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am a biblical scholar,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA biblical scholar. Hmmm,\u201d the father said. \u201cAdmirable, but what will you do to provide a nice house for my daughter to live in?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will study,\u201d the young man replied, \u201cand God will provide for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd how will you buy her a beautiful engagement ring, such as she deserves?\u201d asked the father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will concentrate on my studies,\u201d the young man replied, \u201cGod will provide for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd children?\u201d asked the father. \u201cHow will you support children?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t worry, sir, God will provide,\u201d replied the fianc\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The conversation proceeded like this, and each time the father questioned, the young idealist insisted that God would provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later, the mother asked, \u201cHow did it go, Honey?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The father answered, \u201cHe has no job and no plans, and he thinks I\u2019m God!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n God does provide for all of our needs. And we don\u2019t really need to worry. When we take care of one another like we do here at Yosemite\u2014cooking and cleaning after each other, watching each other\u2019s kids, making sure everyone has something to eat, welcoming and praying for each other, going hiking together and making sure no one falls down, and people like Joe who does a lot of planning to give us delicious meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we have been \u201cgive dominion over the works of God\u2019s hands and everything that\u2019s under our feet,\u201d we have a responsibility to care for each other, for other people, and for the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With all this rain that we\u2019ve been getting, I thought about the Noah\u2019s Ark Principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah\u2019s Ark\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n One\u2014Don\u2019t miss the boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two\u2014Remember that we are all in the same boat. Share everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three\u2014Plan ahead. It wasn\u2019t raining when Noah built the ark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Four\u2014Stay fit. When you\u2019re in your 60s or 70s, someone may ask you to do<\/p>\n\n\n\n something really big.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Five\u2014Don\u2019t listen to critics, just get on with the job that needs to be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Six\u2014Build your future on high ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seven\u2014For safety\u2019s sake, travel in twos and hold hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eight\u2014Speed isn\u2019t always an advantage. The snails were on board with the<\/p>\n\n\n\n cheetahs. Take a nap every afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nine\u2014When you\u2019re stressed out, float awhile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ten\u2014Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eleven\u2014Don\u2019t throw things down the drain, it goes out into the Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Twelve\u2014No matter the storm, when you are with God, there\u2019s always a<\/p>\n\n\n\n rainbow waiting for you to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s true that we all are in the same boat. Let us trust God with our lives because of his majestic love in making us joint heirs and co-creators with him in all the earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This message was delivered by the Reverend Donald Ng, Senior Pastor of First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco during the church trip to Yosemite National Park in 2003 GodNoah\u2019s Ark<\/h6>\n\n\n\n