{"id":33165,"date":"2005-08-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2005-08-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/two-sets-of-plans\/"},"modified":"2005-08-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2005-08-26T00:00:00","slug":"two-sets-of-plans","status":"publish","type":"sermons","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/two-sets-of-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Sets of Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2005\/08\/19083.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n<p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">I, like many of you, am overwhelmed. What&#8217;s\nparticularly overwhelming for me, in the midst of a devastating crisis like\nthis one, is having to stand publicly and offer hope and comfort. Like many of\nyou, I&#8217;ve turned to God and said, &#8220;God, you know what we need right now?\nWe need you to speak.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">At some level we all say, &#8220;Is there a word\nfrom God?&#8221; I&#8217;ve come today to tell you there is. My fear is that I will\nappear glib or trite, but the only reason I can stand here today is by the\npower of God and the prayers of his people.<\/span><\/p><p><strong><span style=\"\" class=\"\">&#8220;You\nintended to harm me, but God intended it for good . . .&#8221; (Genesis 50:20)<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Listen to the next verse in light of the tragedy\nof this past Tuesday. Genesis 50:20 says, &#8220;You intended to harm me, but\nGod intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of\nmany lives.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">On Tuesday morning at Columbine High School the\nforces of evil converged to unleash a violent and bloody spring holocaust on\nteens and their teachers. Two suicides followed thirteen homicides. A morning\nof mayhem led to a horrific afternoon and evening of waiting. We have parents\nsitting here today who were part of that waiting. Riveting reunions between\nparents and kids brought tearful relief to hundreds throughout that dark day.\nSadly some parents left Leawood Elementary School without a reunion. Many\nreunions took place in hospitals and funeral homes across our community.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">John and Doreen Tomlin were one of the first\ncouples to see their son in a funeral home. On Friday, John and Doreen had a\nmemorial service for their 16 son, John Robert Tomlin.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">On April 20, 1999, Satan had a plan for Littleton.\nWe know it was Satan who had a grip on those two boys because he left his\ncalling , destruction, and dread. Make no mistake; Tuesday&#8217;s\natrocity is not simply about black trench coats, purported parental failure,\nanemic gun laws, inattentive teachers, or Marilyn Manson. Ultimately, what we\nsaw on Tuesday came from Satan&#8217;s home  pit of hell.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">In fact, I believe I smelled hell. On Tuesday I\nbelieve I got as close as you can get on earth to smelling  there at\nthe corner of Pierce and Bowles.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Pastor Boone and I were out together for a\nmorning of meetings, and we were coming home on C470 when we first heard the\nsirens. Within ten minutes between 15 and 20 emergency vehicles raced past us.\nWe were well aware something huge was going on. We got off C470, came down\nBowles, and headed in the direction of the sirens. Cars continued to pass us\nwith emergency lights flashing. We drove to the corner of Pierce and Bowles,\nand pulled into the parking lot across the street. One student who was\n they were scattered , &#8220;There&#8217;s someone with a\ngun inside, and he&#8217;s shooting everybody.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">We got out of the car, walked across the street,\nand joined hundreds of others who were arriving at the scene. Huge groups of\nkids made their way up toward the public library, which became a command post.\nIt was utter chaos.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">We began talking to the kids and asking them\nwhat happened. Many needed to call\ntheir parents, and I had my cell phone. I saw a teacher who attends our church\nand prayed with him. I saw another person I knew and prayed with him. There was\nterror on every face.<\/span><\/p><p><strong><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Satan\nhad a plan for Littleton.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">I smelled the presence of Satan in that place.\nYou could see it, smell it, taste it. On Tuesday, April 20, 1999, Satan had a\nplan for Littleton.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">First, Satan wanted fear. Some of you have had\ntrouble sleeping. Some of your kids are having nightmares. Some of you wake up\nin the middle of the night because you&#8217;ve been dreaming about shootings and\nkillings. I have. And every time I&#8217;ve been jolted by fear, I&#8217;m drawn to 2\nTimothy 1:7, which says, &#8220;God has not given us a spirit of fear.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">If God has not given us a spirit of fear, then\nwhere is it coming from? It&#8217;s coming from Satan. Satan&#8217;s plan is that this\ncommunity will be consumed by fear. He wants us to be afraid to go to bed at\nnight.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">One night I looked out my front window because I\nhad heard something. I saw a man sitting in his car with his lights on. As I\nwatched from the window, suddenly I was overwhelmed by fear, and I wanted to\nknow why that person was out there. If you haven&#8217;t felt it yet, you probably\nwill. And I know where it comes from. It comes from the pit of hell. That was\npart of Satan&#8217;s plan for Littleton on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Satan has another plan for our community: he&#8217;d\nlove to see us filled with hate. Today I prayed for the families of the two\nboys who are responsible for this mayhem. That might have been hard for some of\nyou. I&#8217;m not an expert on grief, but I know anger is a normal part of the\nprocess. If you&#8217;ve felt angry, I&#8217;m not surprised. It&#8217;s predictable. I&#8217;ve had my\nshare. Satan wants us to stay there. He wants us to live with anger.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Perhaps some of you watched the special edition\nof &#8220;Nightline&#8221; on Thursday. They were in Jonesboro, Arkansas, where\n13 months ago a similar tragedy occurred. Interestingly, the title was\n&#8220;Lessons Learned.&#8221; I don&#8217;t think the evening went the way they had\nplanned. I think they hoped the people from Jonesboro would say, &#8220;Here&#8217;s\nhow we learned to walk through this, Littleton. Let us comfort and encourage\nyou.&#8221; But that message did not come through.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Thirteen months after the tragedy, there is\nstill incredible hostility between those who were victimized and the families\nof the victimizers. The mom of one of the victimizers, Mitchell Johnson, was at\nthe community meeting that was being taped. Many in the room did not know she\nwas there. One man who lost his wife was nearly out of control with his rage.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">I&#8217;m not critiquing his response or hers. I&#8217;m\njust saying this: I know what Satan wants Littleton to look like in 13 months.\nHe wants us to be hateful and spiteful. He wants us to see people wearing black\ntrench coats and unleash our anger against them. He wants evil to be repaid by\nevil. He wants hatred to be repaid by hatred.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Satan had a plan for Littleton, and his plan was\nthat we would be overcome by fear, hatred, and finally, inconsolable grief.\nInconsolable grief can ruin your life. That&#8217;s not to say there&#8217;s not a place\nfor grieving. Five days after this episode we are all still shocked and\ngrieving.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Everyone handles their grief differently. Some\npeople laugh and giggle. Some people can&#8217;t stop crying. Some like to make silly\nlittle jokes. Some get irritable. Some get so tired they can&#8217;t stay awake. Some\nstare at the wall and become immobilized. Some become angry and call talk\nshows, screaming out their solutions.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">We are a community in grief. But Satan wants us\nto hang onto our grief.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Jerry Shimmel, a part of our church family,\nsurvived the 1989 United 232 plane crash in Sioux City, Iowa. On Wednesday\nnight Jerry had some incredible words for us. One thing he said was\n&#8220;You&#8217;re never going to get over this.&#8221; Secondly, he told us there are\nsome from that particular tragedy who are in mental health facilities. Ten\nyears after the crash, they still aren&#8217;t able to process their grief.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Satan loves that we retain horrible memories. He\nloves that Tuesday&#8217;s tragic scenes replay in our minds like video\n and over again. He loves that I vividly remember law\nenforcement officers drawing their weapons on a possible suspect and yelling at\nus to &#8220;Get down! Get down!&#8221; I still remember the horrible feelings,\nas many of you do. Satan wants us to relive continually those horrible\nmemories.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Satan had plans for Littleton on April 20, 1999.<\/span><\/p><p><strong><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Satan&#8217;s\nplan didn&#8217;t work, because God also had a plan.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Satan had a plan on Tuesday, but I don&#8217;t think\nit worked. Why? Because God also had a plan.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Proverbs 19:21 says, &#8220;Many are the plans in\na man&#8217;s heart, but it is the Lord&#8217;s purpose that prevails.&#8221; Genesis 50,\nthe story of Joseph, reminds us that what Joseph&#8217;s brothers intended for evil,\nwhat they intended for harm, what they intended for hate, God intended for\ngood. I love those words &#8220;but God.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Someone gave me a plaque two or three years ago.\nIt&#8217;s on the wall in my study. Every time I glance toward the door I see it. It\nsays, <span style=\"\" class=\"\">Bill, I have everything under\ncontrol. Jesus<\/span>. <\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">God has plans for Littleton. What is God&#8217;s plan\nfor Littleton? 2 Timothy 1:7: &#8220;God has not given us a spirit of fear but a\nspirit of power and of love and of a sound mind.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Satan&#8217;s plan for Littleton was fear, hate, and\ninconsolable grief. God&#8217;s plan, which went into action immediately, is for\npower, love, and sound thinking.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">As I said earlier, I don&#8217;t want to appear glib\nor preachy today, but if we&#8217;re going to turn to God in this crisis, we have to\nturn to God believing that God is able to do abundantly above and beyond\nanything we can ask or think. I want to be one voice in this community saying,\n&#8220;God is still in control; God is good; and God has amazing plans for us\nuntil Jesus Christ returns to this earth.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><p><strong><span style=\"\" class=\"\">God\nwants the people of Littleton and the world to see and experience his power.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">God wants people of Littleton and the world to\nsee and experience his power. I want to tell you, God&#8217;s power was evident in\nthe middle of this bloodbath.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">All of us have read about Cassie Bernall. She\nwas a strong Christian  just a kid that went to church. I believe\nRachel Scott wanted to be a missionary. John Tomlin had been on missionary\ntrips. These kids were on fire for God.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Would you ever have imagined that a precious\n17 girl would be asked, &#8220;Do you believe in God?&#8221; while a gun\nwas pointed at her? Perhaps she thought, <em>If\nI say no, they might spare me.<\/em> I don&#8217;t know that, but what I do know is\nthat she, according to the eye witness, said yes. In an instant, she was in the\npresence of the Lord.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">This past Wednesday night friends of John Tomlin\nwere having a meeting. One of his friends, Brandon, had been witnessed to by\nJohn. Brandon had not yet accepted Christ as his Savior. But on Wednesday night\nwhen the man leading the meeting said, &#8220;Would anyone like to receive\nChrist?&#8221; Brandon said, &#8220;I want to.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">The man said, &#8220;I want you to be sure. I\ndon&#8217;t want this to be an emotional decision. I know you&#8217;re all stirred up by\nall of this.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Brandon said, &#8220;John has been talking to me\nabout this. I know exactly what the gospel is. I&#8217;m going to receive Christ\ntonight.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">On Friday morning, John and Doreen said to me,\n&#8220;We want John Robert Tomlin&#8217;s service to be an evangelistic service. We\nwant you to give an invitation to receive Christ. We know that won&#8217;t erase the\npain of the loss of our son. But please present the gospel.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">What an incredible opportunity to stand and say,\n&#8220;The Lord Jesus Christ is first, and was first, in John&#8217;s life. And if\nyou&#8217;d like to put your faith in him and receive him as your Savior, I want you\nto raise your hand right now.&#8221; Across the room, five hands went into the\nair.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Some of you are probably thinking, <em>Bill, we&#8217;re still grieving. How can you be\nso loud and positive about what&#8217;s going on? This is a horrible tragedy<\/em>.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">I know. I think I feel it as deeply as anyone\nwho didn&#8217;t have someone in the school can feel it. We had kids from this church\nin that school. There&#8217;s a mom and dad in the front row who know exactly what\nI&#8217;m talking about.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">However, what I want to say to you is God has a\nplan, and his plan is to turn evil into good.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">John&#8217;s and Doreen&#8217;s abiding faith in the Lord\nhas amazed me. The father of Rachel Scott has also amazed me. I asked him,\n&#8220;Do you have any anger towards the boys or their families that have done\nthis?&#8221;<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">He said, &#8220;I don&#8217;t, and I probably should.\nBut I feel like I&#8217;m blanketed by a covering of God&#8217;s grace.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">I saw the parents of Cassie Bernall in an\ninterview, and they amazed me also. They&#8217;ve been bold in saying, &#8220;We\nbelieve the Lord can use this for his glory.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">None of us in this room would ever have chosen\nwhat happened on Tuesday to happen. That was Satan&#8217;s plan. But in the midst of\nthis horrendous tragedy, God also has a plan. God&#8217;s light is bringing people to\nthe truth, and God&#8217;s power is real. Before we leave today, I&#8217;m going to ask you\nif you&#8217;ve put your faith in him. If you haven&#8217;t, then maybe you&#8217;ve been moved\nto a place where you&#8217;ve decided, &#8220;Today is the day for me. I need Jesus in\nmy life.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><p><strong><span style=\"\" class=\"\">God\nwants Littleton to be a place where his love is displayed.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">God wants Littleton to be a place where his\npower is displayed for the whole world. Secondly, he wants this to be a place\nwhere his love is displayed. God&#8217;s plan is not fear, hate, and inconsolable\ngrief. It&#8217;s power and love.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Can you feel the love in this community? I&#8217;ve\nlived in this community for 16 years, and I&#8217;ve never sensed this type of love.\nIt&#8217;s palpable; it&#8217;s in the air.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">How can a precious family sit in this row on\nFriday morning and after the memorial service be interviewed by both local and\nnational media and say, &#8220;We&#8217;re praying for the families who have lost\ntheir kids and for the families of the boys who were responsible for\nthis&#8221;?<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">I hate what happened on Tuesday, but I love\nwhat&#8217;s happened since then. God&#8217;s love is in this room. I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ve been\nhugged as much in the past five years as I have in the last five days. It feels\nfantastic. I&#8217;ve had people come up to me and say, &#8220;We&#8217;re praying for you.\nWe just want you to know.&#8221; The love is tangible.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">If that love continues, what do you think this\ncommunity is going to look like in 13 months?<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">God&#8217;s plan for Littleton was that we would see\nhis power and love. Also, he wants us to have a sound mind. That means clear\nthinking. Do you know who seems to have the clearest thinking right now? The\nkids who went through the tragedy or who have friends who went through it seem\nto be thinking most clearly.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">The verse about the little children leading the\npeople is true in our community. Our community is being led by the kids. Why do\nI say we&#8217;re being led by them? Let me ask you where they&#8217;re going. Are they\ngoing to the malls? No way. Are they talking about designer labels? Are they\nobsessing over <span style=\"\" class=\"\">mtv<\/span> or computers?\nNo. Are they turning to keg parties? Are they going to sports events? Are they\ntrying to find places where they can be involved in sexual immorality or drugs?\nNo.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Men and women, open your eyes. City of Denver,\nopen your eyes. State of Colorado, open your eyes. World, open your eyes. The\nkids are turning to God! They&#8217;re going to churches! They&#8217;re saying, &#8220;We\nwent to one service, and we quickly looked to find another.&#8221; Why are they\ngoing to church? They know they need God.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">I pray that out of this devastating and evil\ntragedy the eyes of the world will be opened, and we will begin to think with\nsound minds and get our priorities right. What matters now? What you wear?\nWhere you live? What you drive? What you earn? No. God and God alone matters.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">I know I&#8217;m under the influence of something good\nright now. I am not diminishing this tragedy one bit, and I&#8217;m not saying,\n&#8220;I&#8217;m glad that happened on Tuesday.&#8221; But there is evil in this world,\nand the evil flows out of the pit of hell. And there will continue to be evil\nuntil Satan is cast into the lake of fire. In the midst of it all, let us look\nto the plan God has. He wants us to be known for his power, love, clear\nthinking, and glory. That&#8217;s what we want to see, that&#8217;s where we want to turn,\nand that&#8217;s where we want to  the true and living God.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">I don&#8217;t know about you, but I will never be the\nsame. I don&#8217;t think I have any choice. We are being shaped by a tragedy that\nwill mark us for the rest of our lives. Only time will tell whether the city of\nLittleton will be known for God&#8217;s power, God&#8217;s love, and God&#8217;s clear thinking.\nWhen we choose that, we choose God&#8217;s plan and God&#8217;s glory over the plans of his\nenemy.<\/span><\/p><p><em><span style=\"\" class=\"\">Bill Oudemolen<\/span><\/em><em><span style=\"\" class=\"\"> is pastor of Foothills Bible Church in Littleton, Colorado.<\/span><\/em><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">(c) Bill Oudemolen<\/span><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead2\">Preaching Today Tape #192<\/h2><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.preachingtodaysermons.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">www.PreachingTodaySermons.com<\/a><\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"\" class=\"\">A resource of Christianity Today\nInternational<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[306],"tax_ctp_authors":[924],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[170],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[412],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_sermon_series":[],"tax_ctp_tags":[3737,3903,4083,4124,4369,4883,4944,5130,5178],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-33165","sermons","type-sermons","status-publish","hentry","tax_ctp_authors-bill-oudemolen","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-death","tax_ctp_tags-evil","tax_ctp_tags-goodness","tax_ctp_tags-hatred","tax_ctp_tags-life","tax_ctp_tags-satan","tax_ctp_tags-september-11-2001","tax_ctp_tags-teens","tax_ctp_tags-tragedy"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Two Sets of Plans - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/two-sets-of-plans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Two Sets of Plans - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I, like many of you, am overwhelmed. What&#8217;s particularly overwhelming for me, in the midst of a devastating crisis like this one, is having to stand publicly and offer hope and comfort. Like many of you, I&#8217;ve turned to God and said, &#8220;God, you know what we need right now? We need you to speak.&#8221;At Read more...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/two-sets-of-plans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/two-sets-of-plans\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/two-sets-of-plans\/\",\"name\":\"Two Sets of Plans - CT Pastors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2005-08-26T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2005-08-26T00:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/two-sets-of-plans\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/two-sets-of-plans\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/two-sets-of-plans\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Two Sets of Plans\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"description\":\"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Christianity Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"caption\":\"Christianity Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Two Sets of Plans - CT Pastors","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/two-sets-of-plans\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Two Sets of Plans - CT Pastors","og_description":"I, like many of you, am overwhelmed. What&#8217;s particularly overwhelming for me, in the midst of a devastating crisis like this one, is having to stand publicly and offer hope and comfort. Like many of you, I&#8217;ve turned to God and said, &#8220;God, you know what we need right now? We need you to speak.&#8221;At Read more...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/two-sets-of-plans\/","og_site_name":"CT Pastors","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@CTpastors","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/two-sets-of-plans\/","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/two-sets-of-plans\/","name":"Two Sets of Plans - CT Pastors","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website"},"datePublished":"2005-08-26T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2005-08-26T00:00:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/two-sets-of-plans\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/two-sets-of-plans\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/two-sets-of-plans\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Two Sets of Plans"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/","name":"CT Pastors","description":"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization","name":"Christianity Today","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg","caption":"Christianity Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors","https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors"]}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermons\/33165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermons"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermons"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermons\/33165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33168,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermons\/33165\/revisions\/33168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_audience?post=33165"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_authors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_authors?post=33165"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_categories?post=33165"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory?post=33165"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_field_guides","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_field_guides?post=33165"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_format?post=33165"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_multimedia","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_multimedia?post=33165"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_point_editor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_point_editor?post=33165"},{"taxonomy":"tax_publications","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_publications?post=33165"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_sermon_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_sermon_series?post=33165"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_tags?post=33165"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_topics?post=33165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}