INTRO.- This is back to school Sunday so we want to think about children, school, life, etc.
Children are supposed to learn from adults, but often we can learn from children. Here are some quotes of children.
- No matter how hard you try, you can’t baptize cats. (can’t bathe them either!)
- When your mom is mad at your dad, don’t let her brush your hair.
-If your sister hits you, don’t hit her back. They always catch the second person.
- Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
- You can’t trust dogs to watch your food.
- Reading what people write on desks can teach you a lot.
- Don’t sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
- Puppies still have bad breath even after eating a tic tac.
- Never hold a dustbuster and a cat at the same time.
- School lunches stick to the wall.
- You can’t hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
- Don’t wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
- The best place to be when you are sad is in Grandma’s lap.
This is not all! Here are some notes written by children to their preacher.
Dear Pastor, I know God loves everybody but He never met my sister. Yours sincerely, Arnold. Age 8.
Dear Pastor, My father should be a minister. Every day he gives us a sermon about something. Robert, Age 11.
My mother is very religious. She goes to play bingo at church every week even if she has a cold. Yours truly, Annette. Age 9.
Dear Pastor, I think a lot more people would come to your church if you moved it to Disneyland. Loreen. Age 9.
Dear Pastor, My father says I should learn the Ten Commandments. But I don’t think I want to because we have enough rules already in my house. Joshua. Age 10.
Dear Pastor, I liked your sermon on Sunday. Especially when it was finished. Ralph, Age 11.
Children are something else! Funny, interesting characters!
Breezing through life sounds, but is it true? Can it be true? Is there a way to an easier life? Or perhaps a better way of life?
All I know is our kids are headed back to school and eventually, out into the world.
PROP.- I want to share some simple principles that will help us all to breeze through life a little better.
1- Trust God more than yourself
2- Kindness always comes back to you
3- Don’t let your tongue cut you
4- Seek the Lord in all things
I. TRUST GOD MORE THAN YOURSELF
Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." ALL your heart!
Lean NOT on yourself!
ILL.- A radio announcer once asked Leo Durocher, who was at that time the manager of the New York Giants (1948-55), “Barring the unforeseen, Leo, will your club get the pennant?” Back came Durocher’s reply, “There ain’t gonna be no unforeseen.”
There are many unforeseens in our lives. There are many things we don’t know! We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. And often, we don’t even know what will happen tomorrow. BUT THERE IS NO UNFORESEEN TO GOD!
God sees everything, knows everything and has the answer to everything. In fact, God sees everything even before it happens! Now, how could that be? IT’S BECAUSE HE IS GOD! He has no limits like human beings. He knows the past, present and future. Nothing is unforeseen to Him. Consequently, we need to learn to trust Him more than we trust ourselves.
ILL.- When it comes to our church building there are several men who can pretty well take care of things. When it comes to plumbing we can call Roger McMillan. When it comes to electrical problems we can call Jim Reed. When it comes to general, all-around stuff we can call Ray Sandy and Jim Davis.
Where does this leave the rest of us? Good question. It’s always nice when you can trust someone who is smarter than you to take care of some problems that you can’t handle.
ILL.- A preacher said: There is no situation I can get into that God cannot get me out. Some years ago when I was learning to fly, my instructor told me to put the plane into a steep and extended dive. I was totally unprepared for what was about to happen. After a brief time the engine stalled, and the plane began to plunge out-of-control. It soon became evident that the instructor was not going to help me at all. After a few seconds, which seemed like eternity, my mind began to function again. I quickly corrected the situation.
Immediately I turned to the instructor and began to vent my fearful frustrations on him. He very calmly said to me, "There is no position you can get this airplane into that I cannot get you out of. If you want to learn to fly, go up there and do it again."
At that moment God seemed to be saying to me, "Remember this. As you serve Me, there is no situation you can get yourself into that I cannot get you out of. If you trust me, you will be all right." That lesson has been proven true in my ministry many times over the years.
We all need to learn to trust God more than ourselves and more than anybody else in life. People mean well but they can steer us wrong in life. The Lord will always steer us in the right direction and take care of us if we put our trust in Him.
II. KINDNESS ALWAYS COME BACK TO YOU
Proverbs 11:17 "A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings trouble on himself."
ILL.- Jose, a young Puerto Rican boy, came to the United States to visit his uncle Pedro. While here, his uncle took him to to see a big circus. When Jose went home to Puerto Rico, his mother asked him how he liked the people in the United States.
“Oh, Mamma, the American people are so friendly,” he told her. “Uncle Pedro took me to a circus. I couldn’t see, so I climbed a big pole. When I got to the top of the pole, all the people in the magnificent stadium stood up and sang, ‘Jose, can you see?’"
ILL.- Mamie Adams always went to a branch post office in her town because the postal employees there were friendly. She went there to buy stamps just before Christmas one year and the lines were particularly long. Someone pointed out that there was no need to wait in line because there was a stamp machine in the lobby. "I know," said Mamie, ’but the machine won’t ask me about my arthritis."
ILL.- Somerset Maugham’s (English writer) mother was an extraordinarily beautiful woman married to an extraordinarily ugly man. When a family friend once asked how such a beautiful woman could have married such an ugly man, she replied, "He has never once hurt my feelings."
Kindness always pays. It’s the boomerang that always comes back to you. If you want to be blessed in life by others, then bless others. Whatever you sow is what you will reap. What you dish out is what you’ll get. If it’s good stuff, you’ll get good stuff.
John Wesley had this for his rule of life:
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
ILL.- When preacher Dwight L. Moody was in New York one time, he was helped considerably by R. K. Remington. When Moody was leaving on the train, he grasped his friend by the hand and said: “If you ever come to Chicago, call on me; and I will try to return your kindness.”
In reply, Mr. Remington said to Moody: “Don’t wait for me; do it to the first man that comes along.”
It always pays to be kind to everyone. Don’t wait to be kind. Do it now. Do it today. Do it every day. You’ll be blessed.
III. DON’T LET YOUR TONGUE CUT YOU
ILL.- A woman once came to one of the old Puritan preachers of London and told him that the bands which he wore with his pulpit gown were altogether too long, and that they annoyed her greatly. She would like his permission to shorten them. Confident he would allow her to do this, she had come armed with a pair of scissors. The minister mildly handed over the offending bands to the woman, who shortened them according to her taste with her scissors and then handed the fragments back to the minister.
When he received them, he thanked her and said: “Now, my good woman, there is something about you that is altogether too long, and which has annoyed me greatly, and since one good turn deserves another, I would like permission to shorten it.”
“Certainly,” said the woman, “you have permission to do so, and here are the scissors.” Then the preacher said, “Very well, madam, stick out your tongue.”
Proverbs 10:19 "When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise."
Proverbs 12:18 "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."
Someone said, “However sharp is the knife, sharper yet is the human tongue.” Did your mouth ever get you into trouble? Did your words ever come back to bite you? Did you ever have to eat your own words?
ILL.- Someone said, ""Mistakes of the tongue have destroyed more people, ruined more marriages, and cost more businessmen their jobs and their futures than any other kind of mistake."
ILL.- Casey Stengel was a longtime major league baseball manager whose unique way with the English language became known as "Stengelese." Casey held a position on the board of directors for a California bank. According to a story that originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Casey described his duties this way: "There ain’t nuthin’ to it. You go into the fancy meeting room and you just sit there and never open your yap. As long as you don’t say nuthin’ they don’t know whether you’re smart or dumb."
He was right about that. And keeping your mouth shut will also keep a person out of a lot of trouble in life!
James 3:2 "We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check." Here’s a paraphrase: We all sin in many ways, but if we never sin in our speaking, it’s as though we are a perfect person!
Wouldn’t that be great? However, I think most of us (if not all of us) are guilty of speaking out of turn or perhaps of saying words that should never have been said. And these words always seem to come back and bite us. So when we bite others, we bite ourselves.
What’s the answer? What’s the cure? Don’t be quick to talk. Never use nasty or mean words. Speak words that encourage and build people. Speak highly of others or don’t speak at all. And ask the Lord for control and wisdom in your speaking.
IV. SEEK THE LORD IN ALL THINGS
Proverbs 3:6 "In all your ways acknowledge him,and he will make your paths straight."
ILL.- The new family in the neighborhood overslept and their six-year-old daughter missed her school bus. The father, though late for work himself, had to drive her. Since he did not know the way, he said that she would have to direct him to the school. They rode several blocks before she told him to turn the first time, several more before she indicated another turn.
This went on for 20 minutes - but when they finally reached the school, it proved to be only a short distance from their home. The father, much annoyed, asked his daughter why she’d led him around in such a circle. The child explained, "That’s the way the school bus goes, Daddy. It’s the only way I know."
Just like that little girl, adult people go the only way they know, the only they’ve been taught, the only way they’ve been shown. Consequently, this is why we all need a good teacher, no, an excellent teacher!
We all learn some things from our parents. Perhaps other things from our siblings or our peers. Still, we learn some things from those with whom we associate. AND THIS IS WHY WE NEED A GOOD TEACHER, THE BEST TEACHER OF ALL.
ILL.- Sign seen in a textile mill, "When your thread becomes tangled, call the foreman." A young woman was new on the job. Her thread became tangled and she thought, "I’ll just straighten this out myself."
She tried, but the situation only worsened. Finally she called the foreman. "I did the best I could," she said. "No you didn’t. To do the best, you should have called me."
ILL.- One morning, a grade school teacher asked her class how many points there are on the compass. She was surprised when one little boy raised his hand and said: “Five.” The boy counted: “North, south, east, west, and where I am.”
No, the fifth and first point of the compass is the Lord.
"In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."
CONCLUSION------------------
ILL.- Cecil Beaton took pictures of Queen Mother Elizabeth on her 50th birthday. In an extravagance of tact, Beaton sent her proofs so retouched that not a wrinkle showed. Her secretary returned them with a polite note that said in effect: “Her Majesty feels that, having weathered 50 years of life on earth, she would not like her photographs to suggest that she has come through completely unscathed.”
No one can go through life unscathed. No one. We all experience difficulties. But what makes the difference in being able to endure life and succeed is the Lord’s help and blessing.
If you want to breeze through life better. Always seek the Lord. Always put Him first. Always surrender to His will.
