Sermon Central
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Character Counts
Contributed by Ralph Andrus on Feb 24, 2010 (message contributor)
Summary: Building Character ❶. Be Committed ❷. Be Available ❸. Be Content ❹. Be Genuine
- What’s Underneath?
- Tiger Woods the world's No. 1 golfer
- Woods on Friday (2/19/10) apologized for cheating on his wife
- We are captivated by speed & precision in the Olympics rather than character
- What’s under the paint?
- Is that real wood or a vainer?
- Go deeper than the surface
-Character is your identity that distinguishes you as an individual.
- When wealth is lost, nothing is lost;
- When health is lost, something is lost;
- When character is lost, all is lost! -Anonymous
- Character grows out of the substance of a man’s soul -Anonymous
- Character is what you are in the dark.
- Character is what you are under pressure.
- Character is what you are under temptation.
- Character is your real standards at heart.
- Character is living out what you say you believe
David
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, ....
- ? — NOT SO WITH DAVID - 2 Sam 11-12
1 And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. 2 And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: .....
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Isaiah 26:3KJV
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
- Sin with Bathsheba - Murder of Uriah?
And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.
Is 5:24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
> "they have cast away the law of the LORD"
> "and despised the word of the Holy One"
....And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD.
Building Character
12 ....... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling
❶. Be Committed
- Order your Life — Set you life, character on Christ
- Fear — Revere, Awe
- Trembling — Be sensitive
- Commitment is action – Obedience
- Ex. 30:17-21 — Levites had to wash before entering the tabernacle lest they die
Ps 51:2,7- Wash me, Purge me — Clear the record of my sin
- Our action - Remove the idols, thoughts, actions
Isaiah 1:16KJV
Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
James 4:8KJV
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
+ Building Character
❶. Be Committed
❷. Be Available
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
- It is all of Him
- Time to surrender
1 Cor 1:27 God has chosen the foolish & weak things
Gideon
12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. 13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 14 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? 15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.
Building Character
❶. Be Committed
❷. Be Available
❸. Be Content
Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
- Character is what you put your trust in
- How you think,
