'planning For The Future'

SERMON OUTLINE:

(1). Good heart - Proverbs chapter 11 verse 3

(2). Bad Rational - Proverbs chapter 14 verse 12

(3). Wise Advice - Proverbs chapter 15verse 22

(4). Divine Guidance - Proverbs chapter 16 verse 9

(5). Upward Profit - Proverbs chapter 21 verse 5

(6). Essential Dependence - Proverbs chapter 21 verse 3

(7). Daily Trust - Proverbs chapter 27 verse 1

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

• Famous lines from movies intro.

• Which film and who said it?

(1).

“May the Force be with you.”

• Star Wars, 1977

• It is said by a minor character called, General Dodonna,

• It is later memorably repeated by Han Solo in a wry farewell to Luke Skywalker.

(2).

“There's no place like home.”

• The Wizard of Oz, 1939

• Dorothy.

(3).

"You're gonna need a bigger boat."

• Jaws, 1975

• Chief Brody

(4).

"To Infinity And Beyond"

• Toy Story 1995 to 2022

• Buzz Aldrin.

(5).

“Oh, I don’t want to think about that today. I’ll think about that tomorrow,

because after all...tomorrow is another day!”

• “Gone With the Wind”:

• Scarlett O’Hara was the speaker.

• TRANSITION:

• These words conclude, ‘Gone with the Wind.’

• (They are words that Scarlett repeats in various forms throughout the book).

• When tough times come along, and hardships plague her.

• She knows that she tends to react wrongly,

• That then brings feelings of guilt and helplessness,

• And she desperately does not want to reflect on her life.

• Instead of dealing with the issues,

• Scarlett always puts it off until another, different day, which never seems to come.

• Scarlett’s belief is that “tomorrow is another day”.

• This lets the reader or movie goer know,

• That she will survive in the face of whatever change comes along.

• She is optimistic about the future.

• TRANISTION:

• Scarlett’s optimism is based simply on another day another chance.

• The book of Proverbs gives to us a much stronger foundation for the future:

• We have advice, principles, and guidelines,

• That help us to look forward to tomorrow with confidence and hope.

(1). Good heart - Proverbs chapter 11 verse 3

NIV:

“The integrity of the upright guides them,

but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity”.

GNB:

“If you are good, you are guided by honesty. People who can't be trusted are destroyed by their own dishonesty.”

Ill:

• Stuart Briscoe (was a British preacher, author, and broadcaster),

• He tells the story of when he worked for a bank.

• He was young, new, and just learning the business.

• When, one day his boss told him, "If Mr. So, & So calls for me, tell him I'm out."

• Briscoe replied, "Oh, are you planning to go somewhere?"

• His boss said, "No, I just don't want to speak to him, so tell him I'm out."

• Stuart Briscoe replied,

• "Let me make sure I understand - Do you want me to lie for you?"

• The boss got angry and mad at him. He was outraged!

• Then Stuart quickly prayed, and God gave him a flash of insight.

• He then said to his boss.

"You should be happy, because if I won't lie for you,

isn't it safe to assume that I won't lie to you?"

• That appeased his boss’s anger,

• And Stuart kept his integrity.

• TRANSITION:

• Integrity is being true to what you believe.

• If it is wrong to lie at Church, then it is also wrong to lie at home or at work.

This Proverb says, “The integrity of the upright will guide them.”

• The man or woman who lives with integrity,

• Will enjoy a life without shame or secrets or self-made repercussions.

• They will have honesty and integrity to guide them.

By way of contrast.

• The man or woman who lives without integrity,

• One who is unfaithful to what they believe.

• Will find life to be false and crooked, & sooner or later they will experience a disaster.

(2). Bad Rational - Proverbs chapter 14 verse 12

NIV:

“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death”.

TLB:

“Before every man there lies a wide and pleasant road that seems right but ends in death.”

Ill:

• I started my sermon with a 1939 illustration from the movie, ‘Gone with the wind.’

• So let me give you another one from that year.

• (Yep, I know how to be contemporary!)

• Author L. Frank Baum sat reading the labels on his filing cabinet,

• The cabinet was labelled with alphabetical divisions 'A - N' and 'O - Z’.

• From drawer two came the name that would be in the title of his book (and film), ‘Oz.’