On Sunday I finished my two hour sermon (it took three weeks to complete it) about the four 20-25 year seasons that make one cycle of 80 to 100 years. From Ecclesiastes we read "History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before." Reviewing the past sixty years it's evident that we are quickly moving into another dark winter season. The future is going to be very difficult and will begin with a crisis or a series of crises. To prepare I suggested nine very important considerations:

a. Get right with God, Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, "I have no delight in them."

b. Strengthen values and virtues, II Timothy 2:21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.

c. Take advantage of the seasons, Jeremiah 17:7-8 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose trust is the LORD. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.

d. Don’t build anything too big, Luke 18:18-20 Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry. But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?'

e. Prepare for teamwork (relationships), Hebrews 10:24-25 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

f) Prepare our children and youth, Deuteronomy 6:6-7 "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.

g) Prepare our elders, Jeremiah 6:16 Thus says the LORD, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'

h) Prioritize finances, Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

i) Brace yourself for the storm, Exodus 14:13 Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.

Isaiah 7:9(b) If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.

Check out the full series from July 1, 8 and 15 on the audio server. It could change the way you look at the next twenty years of your life.