M And M Sermon (Methods And Motives!)

Illus: Some Grandparents had given their six-year-old grandson a birthday gift. His parents watched him open the gift with great excitement. When he had all the wrapping paper off the box and he opened it, he found a king sized water gun that holds a quart of water at one time. He squealed with delight and headed for the nearest sink to fill it.

? His dad turned to the child’s grandmother (His mother) and said, “Mom, I'm surprised - we used to drive you crazy with water guns.

? Mom smiled and then replied, "OH, I REMEMBER!"

People have a motive for everything they do.

Illus: I recently ran across a letter written by a father who wanted to apologize to a certain young man for not allowing him to marry his daughter:

“Dear Marty,

I have been unable to sleep since I broke off your engagement to my daughter. Will you please forgive and forget?

I was much too sensitive about your Mohawk haircut, tattoos and pierced nose. I now realize motorcycles aren’t really that dangerous, and I really should not have reacted that way to the fact that you have never held a job.

I am also very sure that some other very nice people live under the bridge in the park, too. Sure my daughter is only 18 and wants to marry you instead of going to Harvard on full scholarship. After all, you can’t learn everything about life from books.

I sometimes forget how backward I can be. I was wrong. I was a fool. I have now come to my senses and you have my full blessing to marry my daughter.

Sincerely,

Your future father-in-law

P.S. Oh, by the way! Congratulations on winning the twenty million dollar lottery!”

Jesus said that the hypocrites sounded trumpets because they wanted to be seen of men. Some have a hard time believing that anyone would do such a thing. They think this is no more than a metaphor.

Listen, I do not have a hard time believing that they actually did that. People will do all kinds of strange things to get attention.

· Why do you think some people repeatedly come to church late…you guessed it!

· Why do you think some people live in houses and drive cars they cannot afford…you guessed it!

· Why do you think some people want to wear only name brand clothes even though they can not afford them…you guessed it!

· Why do you think teenagers wear these ridiculous clothes, hair cuts and rings all over their body…Yes, you are catching on!

People do all kinds of OUTLANDISH things to draw attention to themselves.

In the light of this fact, I do not have a hard time believing those hypocrites actually did blow trumpets to draw attention to themselves.

The Lord said, “...DO NOT SOUND A TRUMPET BEFORE THEE, AS THE HYPOCRITES DO IN THE SYNAGOGUES AND IN THE STREETS...” According to God’s Word they actually did that.

They WANTED TO DRAW ATTENTION TO THEMSELVES when they GAVE, PRAYED, AND FASTED.

God knows that many have given with a WRONG MOTIVE - TO BE SEEN BY MEN.

B. WE CAN GIVE WITH A RIGHT MOTIVE.

There are people who do wonderful things for the Lord PUBLICLY and PRIVATELY because they truly love the Lord.