This week on Geek Devotions, our friend Kirk Plaisance, of Frontline Response (formerly the Atlanta Dream Center), join us to talk about some relationships between Superman and Jesus AND about some Ordinary Super Heroes.
If your interested in getting information on Frontline Response and the missions experiences email missions@frontlineresponse.org or call (985)788-2864. They would love to connect and send you a welcome packet with all the information needed.
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Website: https://frontlineresponse.org/
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Kirk Instagram: @kp2pk
Transcript
Like I said in the intro I am Pastor Kirk Plaisance, I am the Missions Director at Frontline Response formerly known as the Atlanta Dream Center. Where I lead a team of people who welcome in teams from all over the world for urban missions experiences that help us do our mission. We have rescued since Jan 367 people and over 1600 people from homelessness and sex-trafficking since the opening in 2003.
Our Mission is In the 21st century, far too many people are trapped in the darkness of sex trafficking and homelessness Frontline Response is on the frontlines every day rescuing these individuals and preventing the most vulnerable in society, our children, from falling victim.
I am Super excited about the New Snyder Cut of Justice League. But what exactly is it
Zack Snyder’s Justice League, often referred to as the “Snyder Cut” is the upcoming director’s cut of the 2017 American superhero film Justice League. It presents Justice League—the fifth film of the DC Extended Universe and is based on the DC Comics superhero team of the same name—as director Zack Snyder had planned it before he left the film’s production and now its been redone and released for all to see.
As I think of Justice League it just reminds me of the great heroes that volunteer and serve as the hands and feet of Jesus at Frontline Response each and every day. And very quickly who better to be than Superman.
I would like to give you a few of the many different parallels about Supes and Jesus. First of all he’s a being from another world sent by his father to eventually become the protector and savior of earth.
He also lives a life in most of the comic books and most of the movie or cartoons as a pure being.
Clark Kent waited until his early 30’s to actually become Superman, which is very similar to the timeframe, that Jesus began ministry.
And lastly the symbol on his chest is Kryptonian for hope. We always see it as an “S” for Superman, but that “s” is a triangle like symbolizing a trinity, and it’s just a symbol of hope, from where he’s from the planet Krypton, actually his name Kal El derives from Hebrew, as the voice of God.
He basically is DC universe’s hope for the hopeless.
And so that’s kind of what I’m going to talk about my devotion, How we can be the hope for the hopeless as just regular people.
To start, I think we have to talk about the why, my pastor always used to use Mark Twain’s quote, I say it often. The two most important days of your life is the day you were born and the day you find out why.
I think we should look back to the day that our Superman, our Savior, our Protector was born. It says Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin child will be born, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is being interpreted to us as God with us.
This moment in Scripture is a really impactful one. This is when the angel comes down to Joseph,
he’s betrothed to Mary to be married to her but she has just told him that she’s pregnant. I mean, Joseph was like, well I didn’t do it and then she’s like no no no no no, God did it,
I can only imagine that this discussion, didn’t really end very well
it was very troublesome, and he decides instead of stoning her, which would have been an acceptable way in the Jewish law, He decides to just kind of put her away quietly, not to disgrace her,
And actually with that. The angel, then comes on and says, I need to explain something to you.
God has done this, God is bringing his hope into the world, and I need you to understand that not only do I need you to marry her. But I need you to help take care of the Messiah who is yet to come.
They’re going to call him Emmanuel because for the very first time since the Garden of Eden, for the very first time, God is coming. In the midst of humanity. Hope is here.
Can you imagine the engagement with the angel, hope is here.
I mean, so you have to understand when Adam and Eve sinned, and separated themselves from God in the Garden God withdrew himself. His Spirit would come down on people and he would prophesy through people, but God did not dwell amongst the humanity, any longer after the garden experience.
And we see this moment, that God wants to restore humanity back to himself, a hopeless world, a world full of pain, suffering, a world full of conflict and hate.
God says, You know what, I’m gonna build that bridge and that’s my Son, Jesus, the hope of the world, Emmanuel, God is with us.
I would imagine that many of us today
Have people that we interact with that have lost hope in some areas we’ve lost hope.
For some, we’ve lost hope that God is even here with us, maybe some of us have lost hope that a family member will ever turn around and stop putting themselves in such danger, maybe some of us have lost hope that you’ll ever have children, maybe some of you have lost hope that God even cares about your finances.
We’ve all lost hope over something during our lives. I know I have. I could give you so many examples of where I have lost hope in myself and humanity I can remember just not too long ago when the Lord asked me and my wife Brittany, to lay down everything back home in Louisiana that we were doing down, and to start the journey to move to Atlanta to join this team.
I really wanted to be faithful to the ministry that I had in my home church. I didn’t want to necessarily move and start over. I was probably the happiest I had ever been in my life. And there was nothing in me that I wanted to move to this unknown place in my late 30s, early 40s and re establish everything I knew.
God had made a call on my life and I prayed through it and I knew that we had to go but also I didn’t see that there were funds to help the move. I lacked some of the right resources, relationships, and support and, and I began to cry out to the Lord and ask through prayer what should we do.
Lord, we need these things we need this to happen, I didn’t have much hope that it was going to happen.
THIS may be an opportunity I’m gonna have to miss, BUT we had doors that just shut that I needed to be shut and other doors that were opened that paved the way and within two or three short months, there were several little miracles that took place that I saw God’s hand moving in it, making the move to Atlanta possible.
I’m still in shock, that it even happened.
Proverbs 13:12 says Hope deferred makes the heart sick but longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
Hope deferred hope prolonged. If we’re not careful, it makes our hearts sick, and some of us have been believing God for something, somebody has been asking God to change something, and it may just want to walk away, and you, you lose hope.
I’m here to tell you hope is here. Hope is here.
I’m here to tell you that in my own immaturity. I did not realize that God was working on my behalf, that he works all things together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. And he’s at work.
Now the greatest joy in my life is to know God’s purpose for my life. Nothing compares to the thrill of being used by God for a purpose, greater than yourself. Nothing else comes close
When you have this feeling when you know that this is the moment and I’m being used by God for a purpose, bigger than me. You just go, this is it. This is it. This is why I’m alive, I get it. Now I understand. This is my place in life. This is my identity. This is my niche, I know why I’m here. I know why I have been made, you see, you were made for far more than just living for yourself. I bet Superman as a young Clark Kent went through the mind games of his purpose.
But I’m gonna look at this idea that God can use anybody He can use any one of our partners, He can any use anyone that’s coming on trips in and volunteering He can use anyone that we meet on the streets.
Because of His mercy
In Romans 6:13 it says do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. Another translation says, to be used for his purposes.
And we have a unique opportunity here at Frontlines to not only live our purpose. but we allow people all over the world to live their purpose through our missions through our volunteering through our teams through their giving,
but the really cool thing is we also have a gift of giving people who have fallen victim to the darkness of homelessness, and sex trafficking, a brand new purpose.
That’s because even though Jesus was here 2000 years ago, even though that original gift happened so long ago, he was called. He has called us His disciples to usher in his plan. Jesus lives on his hope, and that hope is spread to the ends of the earth by me and you.
We are physical hope that God uses to fulfill the redemption, the restoration in people that have abandoned at all costs, their hope in humanity, the world, and in Jesus.
Wrap up
Question of the week If you could be a Super hero which one would it be? Leave the comments below. I also have a challenge for you, Be the hope of the world for someone. You can easily do that by just picking up the phone and calling someone you know that may be struggling. You can also do it in a bit bigger scale by joining us in Atlanta for a Missions trip. You can get information on our weeklong experiences through our website http://www.frontlineresponse.org or emailing us at missions@frontlineresponse.org. You can connect with me and our organization through FB IG and twitter. Also connect with Geek Devotions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Twitch by looking for Geek Devotions and to visit www.geekdevotions.com
Until next time, Stay Devoted – Peace and love