We do not choose our relatives but we do choose our friends. God gives us the responsibility of selecting our inner circle. Like quality antivirus software we must be vigilant to let the right people in and keep the wrong people out. Join us this Sunday at 9 a.m. for our monthly family service as we consider the life of Solomon who wisely declared, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” yet failed to live accordingly.
"wisdom" Tagged Sermons
When someone mentions THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, deep feelings often arise. “Yikes, I can’t recount all 10.” “I’m guilty because I don’t measure up.” “I guess I’m in trouble because I can’t measure up.” “Yes, whew, I’m very devoted to living by them.” “Why did they remove them from the courthouse? Are you kidding me!?” What should we, who seek to abide in Jesus, think about and do with the 10 Commandments? Join us this Sunday at 9 a.m. as we consider God’s dramatic presentation of these laws and discover the role they played in Jesus’s earthly life, and now in our own!
Two weeks ago, Lead Pastor Dean Wertz established the problem of disunity in the church – both in the at Corinth, and in the world today. Last week, Elder Rob Cupp gave a message on how exalting Christ as our King and surrendering our love to Him can bring us together again. This week, we will discuss how listening to wisdom of the Spirit (and not the wisdom of the world) is absolutely essential to living our lives authentically in unity with Christ and the church. We will also be inviting two special guests onstage to share their personal stories about what it’s like to deny the wisdom of the world, and trust fully in the Spirit of God.
We spend our lives looking all over the place for the right answers. Unfortunately, we often look in all the wrong places. God has made Lady Wisdom accessible and tangible for us. Her clarion call is often right beside us. Are you listening?
Throughout the book of Proverbs wisdom calls us to work diligently and plan thoughtfully while also declaring that God is at work in the world and no plans will succeed if they are not from Him. So, which one is it? Does God do the work or do we? Today we explore Prov. 21:31 which nods at a resolution to this conundrum and a beautiful approach for life.
Wisdom is entirely different from knowledge: it’s the right use of knowledge. It is a skill developed over time, only through a posture of sitting at the feet of God Himself, in all humility and all joy. Developing this skill is even more critical in our information age, where knowledge abounds but wisdom is lacking. Jesus is the true wisdom of God, and He promises to give it to all who ask for it!
Long ago, king Solomon had to navigate many personal and public demands. Wisely, he sought help from God, Who gave him wisdom and inspired him to record it. Despite the span of thousands of years, our lives aren’t that different from Solomon’s. We live with increasing personal and public demands. Thankfully, God’s transcendent wisdom is applicable to our lives today.
Why do so many followers of Jesus gather consistently with a group of friends during the week? After meeting to worship God together on the 1st day of the week why would anyone in their right mind add another commitment somewhere on the 2nd through the 7th? One of the many reasons why Christ followers have come together beyond Sunday for the past 2,000 years is to help one another live with and follow Jesus in all of life. Or, as King Solomon described it to his children, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise.”
We are overwhelmed by the characteristics of the world: prejudice; war; disease; overpopulation; energy shortage; terrorism; economic depression; environmental issues; poverty. Yet, we are even more overwhelmed by the characteristics of Christ: enduringly strong; entirely sincere; eternally steadfast; immortally graceful; imperially powerful; impartially merciful.
Life is difficult and the closing move in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount reminds us of this sober reality. In this teaching, known as The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders, we discover that while Jesus does not remove the challenges from His students, He does present a way to prevail through them. This way is a lifelong mentoring relationship with our living instructor that includes listening to Him and then doing what He says.