Be Wise About Alcohol Series

Introduction:

A. The story is told about a preacher who decided that a visual demonstration would add emphasis to his Sunday sermon.

1. So, he placed four jars on a table in front of the congregation and put one worm into each jar.

a. The first worm was put into a jar of alcohol.

b. The second worm was put into a jar of cigarette smoke.

c. The third worm was put into a jar of chocolate syrup.

d. And the fourth worm was put into a jar of good clean soil.

2. At the conclusion of the sermon, the preacher checked on the worms and reported the following results:

a. The worm in alcohol was dead. The worm in cigarette smoke was dead. The worm in chocolate syrup was dead, but the worm in good clean soil was alive.

3. Then the preacher asked the congregation, “What can we learn from this demonstration?”

a. A little old woman in the back quickly raised her hand and said, “Well, it looks like as long as you drink, and smoke and eat chocolate, you won’t have worms!”

4. I don’t think that’s the thing the preacher hoped the congregation would learn from that demonstration.

a. I sincerely hope that all of us will come to the right conclusions about today’s sermon.

B. As you know, we are in a sermon series on the book of Proverbs and we are trying to absorb and apply God’s wisdom, which is more valuable than gold, to our lives.

1. Today, we are going to talk about being wise about alcohol, and what we learn about today about alcohol also applies to other drugs as well.

2. I’m thankful, that by the grace of God, Alcohol and other drugs have never been a problem for me.

3. Even though I had access to alcohol as a young person and was surrounded by family that was prone to consuming a lot of alcohol, it had no attraction to me.

4. I have never been drunk and I have never smoked marijuana or tried any other drug.

5. I don’t say any of this to brag or to pat myself on the back, but I want you to know that as I speak about this subject, I do so as someone for whom it has not been a struggle or problem, and for that I am very thankful.

6. But I know some hearing this sermon may have had or are now having a very different experience with alcohol and other drugs.

C. I want to share the testimony of a preacher from California named Timothy Peck.

1. When Timothy preached on the subject of alcohol he shared his story of struggle with alcohol.

2. Timothy said: “I was twelve years old when I took my first drink. My mom and adopted father were hosting a Christmas party for several of their friends. They had an open bar, and the more the booze flowed, the less people noticed that I was helping myself to the orange juice and vodka drinks they called screwdrivers. I don’t remember exactly how many screwdrivers I drank, but I do remember spending the night throwing up in the bathroom. I also remember feeling absolutely awful the next day. In fact, I couldn’t drink orange juice without feeling like I was going to throw up for months after that.

Any normal person would’ve learned from that experience, but for me that night was just beginning. However, I wasn’t a normal person. Within a week I was regularly sneaking into my parents’ liquor cabinet. I didn’t care what I drank-bourbon, vodka, brandy--it didn’t matter. The drink was just the delivery system; what I was really interested in was the effect. Alcohol provided a numbness from the pain and confusion I was going through as a twelve year old.

Timothy continued: And I didn’t stop with drinking. Soon I was experimenting with drugs as well, and by the time I was 13 years old I was a daily drug abuser. I tried everything I could get my hands on: marijuana, pills, meth, angel dust, LSD. The only thing I never tried was heroin. I figured if I avoided heroin, I wasn’t a drug addict.

For six years I drank and abused drugs on a regular basis. In fact, I can’t remember one sober day from the time I was twelve until the time I quit when I was 18 years old. My grades went from being A’s and B’s to F’s. My last year of junior high school I was suspended three times for getting into trouble. In fact, I failed all but one of my classes my last semester, but the school graduated me anyway, just to move me on to the high school.