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A service designed to engage children and adults alike.
He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’”
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David got it right when it came to some really critical things in His life. He understood that life was about learning and lessons. Therefore, he approached life from the attitude and perspective of a student. He always wanted to learn as much as he could. He knew that God’s Word in particular is the means given to teach us and instruct us in God’s Ways. But most importantly, he understood that God himself, the LORD is the Teacher.
Teach me your way, Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my enemies. (Psalm 27:11)
Three Reasons To Live Life As a Student
1) God’s University Is The School of Wisdom (Proverbs 1:9)
There is no knowing that does not begin with knowing God. (John Calvin)
Abraham went to school in a tent
Joseph got his training in a pit and then a prison
Moses studied on the back side of the desert
David went to university in a cave
2) Students Search the Depths of God’s Wisdom
Six characteristics of being a student:
A healthy cynicism toward your own wisdom
A humble sense of need
A willing and open heart
Discernment, focus, and determination
Commitment to act on what you’re learning
Resisting the temptation to think we have arrived
3) Students understand the danger life presents Psalm 27:11 – Lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.
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To be sure David was a dreamer just like the rest of us. Here he is just a young man… barely 16 or 17 years old. And the prophet of God tells him he is going to be the next king of Israel (1 Samuel 16:11-12). You have to know that promise captured David’s wildest and deepest imaginations. A shepherd boy becomes a King?? This is story book stuff! If he wasn’t a dreamer up until now–he just became one. But in the wilderness experience David is confronted with his greatest need. It’s not the fulfillment of his dream, but it’s his need for the reality of God’s presence and power in His life. This is God’s plan, His purpose, His desire… call it His dream for everyone of us. God is not against our dreams. ln fact I believe He gives them to us. But our dreams must be filtered through God’s dream. His dream must become our dream. And so the question is, “What is God’s dream?” I believe David summed it up in his words, That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life. (Psalm 27:4, Ephesians 4:1-6)
God’s Dream is His House the place of His presence and His people
The Tension of Living In Community
More than any before us, an American today believes “I must write the script of my own life.” The thought that such a script must be subordinated to the grand narrative of the Bible is foreign one. Still more alarming is the idea that this surrender of our personal story to God’s story must be mediated by a community of fallen people we frankly don’t want getting in our way or meddling with our own hopes and dreams.
The Cost of the Dream Genesis 15:17-18a – And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram.
Matthew 27:46b – “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
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The Bible has a lot to say about our words. Jesus in particular warned us how important this issue of our speech is even from an eternal perspective (Matthew 12:34-37). When you come to the Book of Proverbs, Solomon addresses the subject of our words often. In fact it is the one issue he addresses most with over 130 references having to do with our words and speech.
1. Wisdom is a verbal virtue
Proverbs comes to us in the form of a personal conversation, not a sermon or a even a book. Wisdom is constantly taught to us through personal conversations of…
a loving parent
a faithful friend
a wise counselor
a Godly leader
sometime, through the words of a fool
2. Jesus conversed the Gospel in honest, wise conversations so He could speak to the issues of the heart.(Mark 7-11)
3. Our ability to talk and listen to one another biblically greatly affects how we grow as Christians and as a church. (Ephesians 4:11-29)
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The Book of Proverbs is intensely practical and altogether relevant for today’s Christian There are many good and rich themes throughout the book of Proverbs. As you read it, it is important to identify and group together the major themes that run throughout the book. One of the major themes that you find running throughout the entire book of Proverbs is this idea of wisdom
How Does Solomon teach us wisdom?
1. Teaching us the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 9:10)
2. Using key words (wisdom, understanding, knowledge and instruction)
3. Showing us our need for wisdom (Proverbs 9:1, Proverbs 24:3)
Two great myths of wisdom:
- the older you become the wiser you become
- education and intellect equal wisdom
4. Contrasting wisdom with foolishness
Solomon tells us that we can learn wisdom from watching both the wisdom and folly of others.
I. The Wisdom of Prudence is set against the foolishness of careless living.
Proverbs 22:3 A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.
II. The foolishness of laziness is compared to the wisdom of being industrious.
Proverbs 6:6-11 Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep—So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.
III. The wisdom of learning and receiving instruction is compared to the foolishness rejecting counsel or input.
Proverbs 9:8-9 Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
