Proverbs: Life in the Real World
The book of Proverbs is uniquely edifying because life isn’t easy, but it is complicated. There are so many decisions to make and relationships to navigate. Since life is complex, we need more than God’s law to navigate life well. We need wisdom. Therefore, God gave us Proverbs so that we can learn to be wise. Wisdom is skill in navigating the complexities of life in the real world to the glory of God. Above all, Proverbs is deeply encouraging because it draws us into rich intimacy with Jesus Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom” (Colossians 2:3).
Let’s just say it: forming friendships as adults is hard, and forming quality ones is even harder! But, the Bible (and specifically the Psalms) repeatedly tells us of the importance our friendships hold for our spiritual health and, ultimately, our lives so it’s of the utmost importance that we fight the temptation to isolate or settle for anything less than the best. The BIG IDEA Pastor Paul unpacks this week is: Form Wise Friendships and as we unpack this, we’re going to see essentially three ways, according to Proverbs, that we form wise friendships:
Choose wise friends
Exchange wise counsel
Stick together
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Read sermon transcriptGluttony: it’s more than we’ve been taught to believe and actually reflects a sinful heart posture that’s completely devoid of God’s presence.
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Read sermon transcriptProverbs teaches that God has created the world such that certain ways of living generally pay off and other ways of living generally don’t; these statements are not promises but rather generally true principles and as we continue our journey through this book of wisdom, this week we’re looking at Proverbs on Work. Fortunately, scripture is pretty clear on this one and what Proverbs has to say on work can be mostly summed up in this:
BIG IDEA: A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich (Pr. 10:4).
How can we apply a diligent hand to the word that God has given to us so that we can truly prosper? And, to take it a step further, how can we apply a diligent hand to the whole of our lives?
1. Work hard at the right time
2. Work skillfully in a distracted world
3. Live with the mess without exaggerating it.
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Read sermon transcriptWhat does the Bible say about justice? This question feels especially poignant in the days of catchy hashtags and lawn signs; so, how does God feel about this “buzzworthy” concept? Graciously Scripture is abundantly clear here, and the answer is the Big Idea of Proverbs on Justice: Justice is the Lord’s DELIGHT! We want to delight him, but we have questions. This morning, God, through the Book of Proverbs, will help us answer three questions so that we can, as the prophet Micah says, do just, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God:
1. What is justice?
2. How do we do justice?
3. Why does justice matter?
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Read sermon transcriptOur parenting is downstream from the Fatherhood of God, which brings us to the big idea of Proverbs on parenting: Pattern your parenting after the Fatherhood of God.
How do we do that? Three words capture Proverbs’ vision for parenting:
1. Delight
2. Disciple
3. Discipline.
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Read sermon transcriptProverbs assumes that God has delegated authority into this world and that the presence of this authority should be treated as the hunter safety course treats the rifle. Proverbs also provides extensive instructions about how to honor God when you have authority and how to honor God when you’re under authority because authority is an incredibly powerful gift for accomplishing great things in this world, but when authority is misused it’s as deadly as a rifle. That brings us to what Pastor Matt unpacks the big idea of Proverbs on the topic of authority: Honor God with authority and honor God under authority. Honor God with authority and honor God under authority. This morning we’ll take that big idea in two parts: 1. Honor God with authority 2. Honor God under authority.
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The big idea from Proverbs on decision making: Trust in the LORD with all your decisions and he will lead you on the right path. How do we do that practically? Proverbs doesn’t tell us everything that the Bible has to say about how to trust in the Lord with all your decisions; however, Proverbs provides three unique, massively significant ways to trust in the Lord with all your decisions, so that he will lead you on the right path.
1. Don’t lean on your own understanding.
2. Do lean on wise counselors
3. Trust the LORD.
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Read sermon transcriptThe big idea of Proverbs on pride and humility: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. So, we are going to learn to take hold of humility by allowing Proverbs to answer three key questions:
1. What is humility?
2. Why does humility matter?
3. How do we grow in humility?
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Read sermon transcriptBIG IDEA: Hear and take hold of wisdom in the real world.
1. Wisdom is calling there (8:1-11)
2. Wisdom gives success there (8:12-21)
3. Wisdom was there (8:22-36).
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Read sermon transcriptAs we continue our journey through the book of Proverbs, this week we’re blessed to hear from Pastor Mark as he unpacks Proverbs 7. He’ll illuminate how “Satan plays the long game” and expound on the BIG IDEA: Keep far from the forbidden woman. HOW are we to do this? Here’s the answer: Marry wisdom (1-5) Don’t look for trouble (6-9) See through the lies (10-20) Know it will destroy you (21-23) Don’t start down the path (24-27).
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Read sermon transcriptProverbs in particular and the Bible generally, which is Jesus’ word. Proverbs 4:4 – Let your heart hold fast my words. Proverbs 4:10 – Hear, my son, and accept my words. Proverbs 4:20 – My son, be attentive to my words. That brings us to the big idea of Proverbs 4: Listen attentively to Jesus’ words. Listen attentively to Jesus’ words. But why? Though the centrality of God’s word has fallen on hard times, why should we, as a church family, listen attentively to, keep on believing in, and build our lives on Jesus’ word, the Bible? Proverbs 4 provides three reasons: 1. They’ve stood the test of time (4:1-9) 2. They keep you on the path of life (4:10-19) 3. They guard your heart (4:20-29).
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