Proverbs 8

We have come to the book of Proverbs to start our walk through the Bible. The Old Testament is broken up into sections, The Books of Law, Major Prophets, Minor Prophets, History, and Wisdom. Books of Wisdom are Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. Proverbs is a group of sayings, meant to be taught and memorized by young people. There is a lot of parent child sayings and a number of teachers to student sayings. This book uses different devices to teach. Some sayings are set to the alphabet, some are set in rhyme, at times they use sarcasm, and comparison. The book starts as a collection of sayings from Solomon, but later others included. There is a repetitive way about the book much like psalms. There are common caricatures in the book, the Adulteress, the sluggard, the fool, the prostitute, the woman without discretion, the neighbor, sinners, scoffers, rulers, Kings, and a whole host of others. Proverbs is not only an interesting book it can be funny at times so I encourage to read along each day and collect some of your favorites to put on the refrigerator door.

 

Proverbs 11:22 (NIV2011)
²² Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.

Proverbs 26:14 (NIV2011)
¹⁴ As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed.

Proverbs 31:10 (NIV2011)
¹⁰ A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.

 

Wisdom; if there is one thing our world needs it is wisdom. The world is filled with easy answers, ultimatums, and cliffs. 90% of people would not understand national economics if you drew a simple picture of it, yet 70% of people think they could easily solve our countries economic problems, and the other 30% say there is no solution. It seems that every word we say is being analyzed and judged. We watch the news and say “He, She, or they should have known better than that.” There seems to be a lack of common sense, basic morals, and civilized restraint. With all that is wrong in this world, God says that all the answers of life are in this one encyclopedia of life the Bible. 66 books with the answers to personal and global economics, social behavior, personal and world peace.

 

1. Wisdom and understanding are easy to find.

            A. the Gold rush.

            A.2  vs1-3

            B. There is no source of mystical, magical, or hidden knowledge.

            C. God is screaming at us here it is.

            D. Prov 9:10 The fear of

            E. Ecc 12:13&14 the end of the matter

            F. everything we need to know is in this Book

 

2. It is simple to understand

            A. Romans 1:19-20 (it has been made plain and put in your heart)

            B. 1 Cor 18-25 (it is simple to understand )

            C. Because we will not accept it we try to make it complicated.

            D. take a simple law “do not steal” then clearify that sentence with 5000 pages of legealeze. Translate, “I can steal from you but you can not steal from me.”

 

3. Gods’ word is the key to life

            A. worth more than Gold ($1655.00 an ounce)

            B. worth more than silver ($30.00 an ounce)

 

4. Seek it, pursue it, hunt it down

            A. vs 11 choose it over everything else

            B. listen to it 1:8

            C. seek it out, hunt it down

            D. follow it, do it, 8:32-36

            E. James 1:22-25

 

The answers to our worlds troubles are not new, or hidden, and not even expensive. They have all been gathered together by God into this one book The Bible. Wisdom is there and it is worth more than Gold, and it is simple to find.

 

Luke 2:8-20

Luke 2:8-20 Joy and Peace

It is difficult to talk about Joy and Peace and make sense of Sandy Hook. A town of 27,000, three times the size of Marinette. They did everything they could, with locked doors and a security system, and yet peace was taken from them. We live in a world of violence, violent games, violent shows, and music. Even our political parties have gone from disagreement to hate. In our stores we can buy weapons of war, and we can find bomb recipes on the internet. Yet the angels sang about Joy and Peace. I will try to make some sense of it all.

 

1. Violence, sin and evil are the norm.

            A. Genesis 3 tells us we live in a fallen world, Genesis 6:5-6 every inclination.

            B. Romans 1:29-31 filled with every kind of evil.

            C. Some even think we are living in the end times Rev 6:4

            D. The truth is, violence, sin, and evil are the norm, without God.

 

2. And the angel said Good News

            A. Good News of Great Joy for all the people

            B. a Savior is born

            C. who needs a savior? The lost, those in peril.

            d. to men, on whom his favor rest, or to men on whom his favor rest.

            e. yet the only pockets of peace found in the world are where people

 

3. Jesus did not come to bring peace to the earth but peace on earth.

            A.  John 14:27

            B. John 16:33

 

Conclusion:  The peace we receive from Jesus does not stop the tribulation of the world but it transcends it. In the midst of the tribulations of life both great and small, we can find peace, and Joy, because Jesus has overcome the world. We get glimpses and experience part of that peace now, on earth, but it will only truly be experienced in the place that Jesus has prepared for us, in heaven.

            So today, we thank God for the peace we do experience; it is a gift from God. We pray for those whom peace is shattered. Let each one of us examine our hearts and make sure we have ask Jesus for forgiveness, so we will have peace through the tribulation of this world and experience God’s perfect peace when we see Him face to face.

Isiaha 42

Isaiah 42:1-9

The Coming Servant

INTRODUCTION: I love Christmas, all the lights and decorations. Manger scenes with Baby Jesus. People seem a little more open to faith. I guess a Baby in a manger is more approachable than the all powerful King of heaven and earth. This is of course the Prophets Sunday of Advent. There are many prophecies about Jesus, when he would come, why he would come and what he would do. This prophesy was given 800 years before Jesus would be born. This plan of salvation was known about 800 years before Jesus was born to carry it out. And Jesus died on the cross 2000 years before you drew your first breath.

1. Gods Servant

            a. here is My servant- God’s servant

            b. Jesus did not come to serve you, he came to save you.

            c. Matthew 3:17 “Listen to Him”

            d. Jesus came because it was God’s desire, and purpose to save you.

            e. James and Dan were crossing a river, at twelve years old James had crossed this river many times and was an exhalant swimmer, Don, well not so much. Crossing the river it grew to be about chest high, with a good current moving them down stream with each step. Dan stepped into a hole and lost his feet. James went to the rescue. In his panic Dan grabbed at James and now both are in trouble. James starts beating on and wrestling with Dan until he got behind him grabbed his color and held his head above the water. James yells at a still struggling Dan. “I am trying to save you, would just cooperate”

            f. God only needs your cooperation.

 2. What is God’s servant doing

            a. To bring justice, right wrongs, judge sin,

            b. he will not stop.

            c. in terminator, kyle tells Sarah, he has been sent to kill you, programmed to kill you, he is a machine, he cannot be reasoned with, he cannot be bought, he will never stop searching for you he will never stop until you are dead.

            d. God declares His servant will never stop until justice is achieved.

 3. Part of Justice is grace

            While Jesus came to bring justice and to save people of faith, he came looking for five groups of people specifically.

            a. The smoldering wick (3)

            b. the bruised reed (3)

            c. the blind (7)

            d. captives from prison (7)

            e. those in dungeons of darkness (7)

 Conclusion: We all fall into one of these at some point; our faith is but a smoldering wick as we sit in a doctor’s office. We are a bruised reed as our job is downsized or we try to balance our checkbook, or learn of a nasty piece of gossip that is being spread about us. Blind to the love of God, seemingly a captive to our mistakes of the past, or our own limited ideas of what faith is all about. All alone in the cold darkness of life. This passage tells us that we are the people Jesus came looking for. This is God’s purpose, and He is God’s servant, and He will never stop trying to save you. Jesus is trying to save you, would you just cooperate?

psalm 136

Psalm 136:1-12

INTRODUCTION: We are nearing the end of psalms. This psalm is written for use in worship with a leaders singing the first part and then the congregation would sing the refrain.  It is divided into sections; vs. 1-4 are praise to God, vs. 5-9 tell of creation, vs. 10-15 tell of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, and vs. 16-22 tells of God’s giving the land to the Israelites, and the final vs. 23-26 speaks of what God is presently doing. All through it like an ancient praise song it repeats “His Love endures forever”.

 

1. GOD CREATED AND SUSTAINS US

            A. YOUR EYE

            a. IT TRANSFORMS LIGHT INTO IMAGES OF THE WORLD FOR YOUR BRAIN TO PROCESS

            B. THE WATER CYCLE, LAKE-RIVER-VAPOR-SNOW AND RAIN-FILTERING WATER

            c. GOD CREATED YOU

 

2. GOD DELIVERS US

            A. GOD DELIVERED ISRAEL

            B. WE LIVE IN BONDAGE, FROM RULER TO TASKMASTER,

            C. JESUS CAME TO DELIVER US

 

 

3. HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER

            A. A FOREVER PERSPECTIVE

            B. WHY THIS AND WHY NOT THAT

            C. OUR CHILDRENS ANSWERS “WHERE DID JIMMY COME FROM”

            D. GOD’S LOVE IS NOT FULLY UNDERSTOOD UNTILL WE TAKE THE ETERANL

            E. JESUS DOES NOT JUST LOVE US TODAY

            F. JESUS DOES NOT JUST SAVE US TODAY

 

CONCLUSION: IN A WORLD FULL OF SOMETIMES JESUS LOVES US FOR ALL TIME

In a world of things that will last and people who will come and go in our lives Jesus is forever in your life. The Israelites repeated it over and over and never got it. His love endures forever. Do you want that forever love? Ask God for it, and then ask Him to show you how to live in it, experience it every day. You can know that “His love endures forever”.

Psalm 93

Psalm 93

Let’s take a trip this morning in your mind. You can close your eyes if you wish. We are on a jagged sea coast in Maine.  I front of us are two people. Susan sits on old boat seat cushion reading her Bible and having lunch. The jagged rocks jutted out into angry Atlantic Ocean with defiance. She is safe from the spray as huge waves exploded on the rock tossing the spray high into the air to dance in the sun like diamonds. Off to her right an ancient blow hole sends rockets of spray and water into the air as every wave approached. This little piece of rock in Maine is her special spot. Her father brought her here as a little girl about the same age as her granddaughter Rachael who sits beside her now. This special spot had been handed down through her family since 1685, when her great to whatever power grandfather; John came here, 90 years before the Revolutionary war. Now Susan over 300 years later, on this beautiful June day in 2012, shares this spot with Rachael. The rock perch they sit on and the rocky point in front of them has been through storms of all kinds and has not softened its jagged edges one bit. The same cannot be said of the little beach half a mile down the coast from here. There the sand runs out to sea with each wave and then off a shelf into the deep waters. The town brings sand in by the truck load to rebuild it every summer. But Susan’s spot has not changed much in a thousand years and will remain the same for a thousand more. Susan opens her Bible and shares Psalm 93 with Rachael. Susan can picture the writer of this psalm sitting near Joppa on the Mediterranean, like she is now.

READ PSALM 93

I do not know where the writer of this psalm was but it does make more sense if he or she were sitting by the Mediterranean.

 

1. The Lord reigns

            A. read vs. 1&2

            B. We question leaders and authority

            C. news anchors, political analyst, and voters are called to judge a person they do not know on the performance of a job they know nothing about.

            D. At times we forget that God is not up for evaluation or election. His power and rule are not subject to opinion polls, votes, tweets or His number of Facebook friends.

            E. the waves of people, time, civilizations, countries, and world events crash against the shore, and yet God remains unchanged.

F. From everlasting to everlasting.  Psalm 90:2

G. “I AM”

 

2. The beach

            A. The beach is made up of the sand of opinion, culture, laws, trends and values.

            B. warm, sunny at times, inviting and pleasing to our senses, yet it cannot be trusted.

            B. it is ever changing , shifting and washing away with the waves and tide. Only to be replaced by another temporary thing.

            C. For good or evil public values change, acceptance and rejection of others swings like a pendulum of some giant clock.

 

3. The rock stands firm

            A. in the end the writer knows that His God is (read  Vs 4&5)

            B. Jesus told his disciples in Luke 6:47.

 

^{Lk 6:47} I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. ^w   

^{Lk 6:48} He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.  

^{Lk 6:49} But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

 

Build your life on the rock, placed by God 2000 years ago, share it with your children and grandchildren. In the shifting and fleeting sands of life there is Rock of God that is from everlasting to everlasting.

Psalm 84:1-8 Yearning for God

Psalm 84:1-8  Yearning for God

            Almost everyone has a funny story of their child eating something, grass, dirt, an onion left on a counter. They are looking for food and sampling everything in sight. That’s why we put those locks on our cupboards. The Bible tells us that there is a yearning at the heart of every human heart. In this psalm we find it expressed.

 1. Yearning for God

            A. His soul yearns for even faints to be with God
            B. His heart and flesh cry out for God
            C. Job 19:22-27, Isa 26:9,
           D. Jesus uses Hunger Mat 5:6
           E. John 4:14

2. The missing part
            A. in the garden
            B. walk and talk with God, the relationship
            C. People seem aware there is something missing
            D. Sex, drugs, music, popularity and fame, money, power
            E. People are so focused on the void that they see Jesus

3. Filling the void

            A. Jesus is the only one who can fill that void
            B. Jesus said all who come to Him will never thirst or hunger
            C. When we focus on Jesus, talk and walk with Him the void is filled
            D. God wants to be yearned for, thirsted for, Hungered and sought after.
            E. You never say you love me.

Conclusion: Perhaps you have never ask Jesus to fill that void, you can today, simply ask.  Perhaps you have been a Christ follower for a long time, but have forgotten to desire that time and relationship with Jesus. Maybe you have forgotten to take the walk with Him each day in the garden. Every day yearn for that walk in the Garden, to know the presence of God. Seek Jesus with yearning, hunger and thirst and you will be filled. Hear these words from Rev 7:15-17

^{Rev 7:15} Therefore, “they are before the throne of God  and serve him  day and night in his temple;  and he who sits on the throne  will spread his tent over them.  

^{Rev 7:16} Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. ^s  The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.  

^{Rev 7:17} For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ^u  he will lead them to springs of living water. ^v  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”  

Psalm 72 “Prayers for the King”

Psalm 72 “Prayers for the King”

 

INTRODUCTION: We are in the middle of election time. Political adds come on during every show on your TV, there are mailers, phone calls and even the news degenerates into a political circus. You may have strong feelings for one person over another; I would feel better about voting if I did. Then I come to Psalm 72. It has been a long time since I picked this psalm and I was not thinking it would convict me as it has. This psalm has something for all of us to consider.

 

1. A prayer for the king

            A. This is a prayer for Solomon

            B. do we pray for our leaders, president, governor, representatives, even or session?

            C. We criticize, berate, point out their flaws even pray for new ones.

            D. This psalm convicts me, for no matter who wins, they will need prayer.

            E. not prayer that their ideas and plans succeed, but prayer that God will use them.

 

2. Prayers for our leaders

            A. Pray for their salvation

            b. read every verse of Psalm 72

 

3. Pray now

            A. that God’s person would be elected

            B. once elected that that person would become the leader God wants

            C. Our country is in to bad of shape for us to pray against our leaders we need to pray for them.

            D. not that they accomplish their own plans but that they accomplish God’s plan.
 

Perhaps when we start praying for our leaders, to be God’s leaders, they will make wiser choices, and God will use them to heal our land.

Psalm 72:1-19 (NIV2011) ¹ Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness.
² May he judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice.
³ May the mountains bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness.
⁴ May he defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; may he crush the oppressor.
⁵ May he endure as long as the sun, as long as the moon, through all generations.
⁶ May he be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth.
⁷ In his days may the righteous flourish and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.
⁸ May he rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
⁹ May the desert tribes bow before him and his enemies lick the dust.
¹⁰ May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tribute to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him gifts.
¹¹ May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him.
¹² For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.
¹³ He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death.
¹⁴ He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.
¹⁵ Long may he live! May gold from Sheba be given him. May people ever pray for him and bless him all day long.
¹⁶ May grain abound throughout the land; on the tops of the hills may it sway. May the crops flourish like Lebanon and thrive like the grass of the field.
¹⁷ May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. Then all nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed.
¹⁸ Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.
¹⁹ Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen.