Talk (Looking out for planet Earth / The Matrix / The Day After Tomorrow / An Inconvenient Truth)

Talk Introduction

Tonight I would like us to think about Planet Earth - the part we have to play in it
That might sound a bit silly but the Bible is quite clear about our role:
Genesis 1:25-28 P3:

"God blessed them and said, "Have many Children and grow in number. Fill the earth and be its master. Rule over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

So the Bible tells us we are responsible for:
- Earth
- Fish / birds etc.
The fancy word for that is a steward. Dictionary: "Person entrusted with management of another's property…"
Now this all seems a bit scary to me!
I don't know about you but there are times when I'm not sure if we are capable of looking after this planet

Video Clip 1

In the film The Matrix (Best film ever ever) there's a bit where Agent Smith talk about an observation he has made about humans:
Matrix 1 hour 40 - 1 hour 41
"Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment. But you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows that same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague. "
Obviously, that is only a movie, but do you think there is any truth in that all we do is consume and destroy…

Video Clip 2

To think about that we’re going to watch about 30 minutes from the film The Day After Tomorrow…note we are skipping some scenes:

Scene	Time	Length	Comment
3 & 4	6 – 11:41	5	News conference, temperature drop, Tokyo hale stones
7	17:52 – 20	2	3 boys fail, the birds flee the city
9, 10 & 11	21:45 – 36:45	15	He phones the USA…I think it’s happening, tornados, crisis
13	40:40 – 46	5	The city is flooding
14	46 – 49	3	The wave hits the city

Video Clip 3

Watch An Inconvenient Truth (100 mins). If you don't have time to watch the whole film, consider showing parts of the film or just watch it yourself for background information.

The middle bit

What things worry you?
- GM food
- Rain forests
- Ice caps melting
- Global warming
- Floods
- Nuclear war / power
- Chemicals
- Pollution
- Acid rain
- De-forestation
- Organic
- Running out of oil
- BSE
- Foot and mouth
- Dolly the sheep
Here are some facts....
- [Quote some statistics etc. An Inconvenient Truth has quite a lot of information that could be used]
Even though we know a lot about how we are effecting the planet
We still carry on…polluting…destroying…consuming…it doesn’t seem to change anything
Why do you think that is?
- Money…economics
- Some 3rd world countries have to, just to survive (that are used by us)
- Europe - Common agricultural policy encourages mass production
- It is said that we live in a "throw away society"…we’re encouraged to buy buy buy…consume
- They say that if everyone in the world lived like us in the west, we’d need the equivalent of three Earth’s to keep up
What do you think will make people / countries change there attitude towards the environment?
- Disaster!
What do you think the world will be like then you are old?

Conclusion

What can we do to help?
- Lift share
- Simple things like
- Turn lights off / use low energy bulbs
- Recycle more
- plant a tree
- Turn the heating down
- Turn the tap off
- Walk
- Think about where you buy things from…does it come from the other side of the world?
- Ask your parents about switch to a green energy supplier
- Tell people!
The Bible says that we are responsible for looking after this planet
But we act as tough we own the place
The truth is that we are only lodgers…house sitters…
If a friend asked you to look after their house while they we away, they’d expect at the very least for it to be in the same condition as they left it…
and it’s kind of the same deal with God
we’re going to finish by reading a story from the Bible
Read Matthew 25:14 – 30
[Consider handing out the recycling leaflet on http://www.somc.org.uk/green/]
[Pray]

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