Old Time Gospel Beliefs

OLD TIME GOSPEL BELIEFS

INTRO.-

ILL.- Someone wrote, “You’re over the hill when...”

- You find yourself beginning to like accordion music.

- You’re sitting on a park bench and a Boy Scout comes up and helps you cross your legs.

- Lawn care has become a big highlight of your life.

- You’re asleep, but others worry that you’re dead.

- You light the candles on your birthday cake and a group of campers form a circle and start singing Kumbaya.

- You start video taping daytime game shows.

- Your Insurance Company has started sending you their free calendar - a month at a time.

- At cafeterias, you complain that the gelatin is too tough.

- Your new easy chair has more options than your car.

- One of the throw pillows on your bed is a hot water bottle.

- It takes a couple of tries to get over a speed bump.

- You run out of breath walking DOWN a flight of stairs.

- You look both ways before crossing a room.

- People call at 9 p.m. and ask, "Did I wake you?"

- The waiter asks how you’d like your steak and you say "pureed."

- Your childhood toys are now in a museum.

- You have more hair in your ears and nose than your head.

- You wear black socks with sandals.

Brethren, we’ve all had a good laugh at the process of aging. But aging is not necessarily bad! In fact, some people have accomplished some mighty good or great things in their later years.

ILL.- Alfred Lord Tennyson published his poem “Crossing the Bar” at the age of 83.

- Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in his late 80’s.

- Benjamin Franklin went to France to serve his country at 78 years of age.

- Paderewski played the piano before large audiences at the age of 79.

- Grandma Moses began painting at the age of 70.

ILL.- One lady who was in her upper 70’s taught a Sunday School class of junior boys. She even took them hiking and participated in other outside activities. When she fell and broke her leg, a preacher sent her a sympathetic note, expressing what must have appeared as “pity.” In a few days, he got this fiery reply:

“My hair is gray and I’m almost blind,

The years of my youth are far behind;

But get this straight and don’t forget

I’m still a kickin’ and I ain’t dead yet!”

Brethren, aging is not bad unless you allow it to be. And old things are not necessarily bad. We need to learn from the good things of the past and be inspired by them. Old hymns. Old books. Old sermons.

PROP.- Since we have called this “Old Fashioned Denim Sunday” I want us to consider some old time gospel beliefs that are never “out of date” and can be very helpful to us in living the Christian life.

1- The Lord’s Word

2- The Lord’s obedience

I. THE LORD’S WORD

ILL.- A minister wound up the Sunday morning services by saying, “Next Sunday I am going to preach on the subject of lying from Mark chapter 17. Please read that chapter in preparation for the sermon.”

The next Sunday the preacher said, “All of you who read the 17th chapter of Mark, please raise your hand.” Well, nearly everyone in the congregation raised their hand.

The preacher said, “You are the people I want to talk to, because there is no 17th chapter in the book of Mark!”

Brethren, my concern is not that we would lie about reading the Word of God. My concern is that we don’t read it at all and many times don’t care!

II Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

If the Bible is indeed the Word of God and can do many wonderful things in our lives (correct us, teach us, train us, equip us) then we need to read it! We need to study it!

ILL.- It is said that Benjamin Franklin loved to argue. Occasionally, he would find himself overwhelmed by the arguments of his intelligent friends. At such times, however, he often would say to them, “Give me a day to think the matter over, for I know I’m correct.”

Franklin would then go into his print shop, set up some type in the style of the Bible, and express his position and argument in Bible language. He would then return the next day to his opponents and proudly proclaim, “Whatever you may think, you cannot get away from the fact that Holy Scripture supports my argument. As it says in the book of John....” AND HIS TRICK WORKED EVERY TIME!