Sun, 27 August 2017
This Sunday we will have a guest preacher. He is embarrassingly short of stature, has six legs, and no voice. Yet this little messenger has a big message for us. Our preacher is the ant.
His Bible text is Proverbs 6:6-11:
6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. 7 Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, 8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. 9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.
The story is told about a man just taking up the sport of golf. As you may know, it’s a lot harder than it looks. He got on the first tee box and placed his ball on the tee. He happened to tee it up right beside an anthill. When he took his first swing, he completely missed the ball and hit the anthill instead. Ants went flying in every direction. Unfazed, he took a second giant swing and, again, he missed and hit the anthill. As he wound up for a third try, one ant said to the other, “We’d better get on that ball or we’re gonna’ get killed!”
In short, that’s the message of the ant: “Get on the ball!” He offers us wisdom about work. Let’s learn the lesson God wants to teach us through the ant. Proverbs: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Days “Wisdom about Work” Proverbs 6:6-11
“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise” (Proverbs 6:6).
“Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, 8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest” (Proverbs 6:7-8).
“How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man” (Proverbs 6:9-11).
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Sun, 27 August 2017
"Sabiduria sobre el trabajo Proverbios 6.6-11
1. Una Ilustración del trabajo a. Considere la hormiga b. Imite a la hormiga 2. La Iniciativa para el trabajo a. Sin supervisión b. Sin pereza 3. El Incentivo al trabajo a. Asequrar el presente b. Asegurar el futuro |
Sun, 20 August 2017
Water is good for you. It’s one of God’s great gifts. But water can kill you too. Drinking water gives life. But drinking water can also end life. If you drink too much water in too short a period of time, it can throw off your body's balance of electrolytes, cause brain swelling and lead to seizures, coma, or even death. It is called “water intoxication.”
In 2007 a radio station held a contest to win a Nintendo video game. The objective of the contest was to drink the most water possible in a 3-hour period. One of the entrants was Jennifer Strange. She wanted to win a Wii system for her 11-year-old son. Jennifer drank some 2 gallons of water. She got second place in the contest. Her prize was a pair of tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert for that same night. The tickets went unused. Jennifer was dead by 3 that afternoon due to the effects of acute water intoxication.
What makes it even more sad is that it was so preventable. During the contest, she could be heard complaining about experiencing pain to disc jockeys at 107.9 "The End." "Oh, it hurts," Strange said, while one male disc jockey remarked that she looked pregnant and another, a woman, said "That is so funny." Warnings were called in by listeners. One caller (named Eva Brooks) said (and they have the tape of her call): "Those people that are drinking all that water can get sick and possibly die from water intoxication." The disc jockeys replied that they "were aware of that" and that contestants had signed a release "so we're not responsible."
A jury disagreed with that and awarded Jennifer’s widower and children $16.5 million dollars in damages.
Water is good for you, but even water can kill. It’s ok for the boat to be in the ocean, but it’s not ok for the ocean to be in the boat.
There’s another gift that God has given us. It too is essential for life. It is the marriage union. It is good. Sexual intimacy gives life. But sexual intimacy can also end life—and that’s not hyperbole.
Good’s good gifts, like marriage, are meant to be enjoyed! God has given us guardrails--boundaries and guidelines--so that we can rejoice in His good gifts. As long as we honor God’s design—one man faithfully married to one woman—we are safe. But when we violate that design, destruction lurks.
An encompassing term for violating God’s design in marriage is adultery. Today we will look at some of God’s counsel in a message entitled, “The ABCs of Adultery.” We will see the allure, the bitterness, and the cure for adultery.
Proverbs: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Days “The ABCs of Adultery” Proverbs 5:1-23
“For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil” (5:3).
“But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol” (5:4-5).
“Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house. . . . Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love” (5:8, 18-19).
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Sun, 13 August 2017
During my college days, I served as a summer missionary. My partner was a guy from Arkansas State University named Dave McKinney. He was different from me in many ways—shy, quiet, calm, patient, slow, methodical, and meticulous. At times his character traits drove me crazy. And I’m sure my outgoing nature, quick pace, and impatience irked him. The summer ended and we went our separate ways.
Sometime later a group of students from my college went to an event where he was. They all ran into each other and discovered that David and I had served together. They talked for some time. Their comment to me upon their return was, “Jeff, we met a guy named Dave McKinney. He said he knew you and that you had served together as summer missionaries. You guys are just alike!” The comment stunned me.
We were not at all alike—when we started that summer. But I believe that the time we spent together changed the two of us. I’m not even sure that we were aware of the impact we were having on one another. I learned to slow down a bit; he learned to speed up a little bit. I learned to listen better; he learned to interact more readily. We rubbed off on each other. As iron sharpens iron, we had shaped one another hopefully to be more like Jesus!
God wants something similar to happen in our lives on a daily basis. He intends that our friendship with others be a means of growing in Christlikeness.
The book of Proverbs has some great counsel on friends. Our focus verse for Sunday will be Proverbs 13:20, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”
May God bless the study of friendship that we undertake so that our relationships become more and more redemptive!
Proverbs: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Days “Friends” Proverbs 13:20
“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” (Prov. 13:20).
“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” (Prov. 13:20).
“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” (Prov. 13:20).
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Sun, 13 August 2017
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Sun, 6 August 2017
Proverbs: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Days Proverbs 1:1-7
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Sun, 6 August 2017
Proverbios: Sabiduría antigua para el día de hoy (Proverbios 1:1-7)
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Tue, 1 August 2017
July 30, 2017 What Would You Ask? Mike Holmes
Can God be sovereign and mankind be free?
Yes
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. Genesis 50:20
God possesses__all_____power and is the ruler of __all______ things. God rules and works according to His eternal purpose, even though events that seemingly contradict His rule. Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:17; Acts 17:28; Prov 16:4, 9
We__freely_____make choices, and we _responsible______for those choices. Our choices have real and eternally significant results.
God is setting and fixing absolutely everything the way he wants it to be, but He doesn't do that__despite___our choices, but _through__ them.
Prov. 16:1; Acts 27:22-32
Implications on: Fear- Rom. 8:28 Hope-Eph. 3:20 Thanksgiving-Col. 3:15 Hard Choices-Prov. 16:33, Prov. 21:5 Evangelism-Acts 18:9-11, Rom. 10:13-15, 2 Tim. 2:10 Salvation-Rom. 8:29-30, Rom. 10:9-13, John 6:44, John 16:15 Assurance-Rom. 8:39-39
ThisJesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. Acts2:23
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