SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). Good heart - Proverbs chapter 11 verse 3
(2). Bad Rational - Proverbs chapter 14 verse 12
(3). Wise Advice - Proverbs chapter 15verse 22
(4). Divine Guidance - Proverbs chapter 16 verse 9
(5). Upward Profit - Proverbs chapter 21 verse 5
(6). Essential Dependence - Proverbs chapter 21 verse 3
(7). Daily Trust - Proverbs chapter 27 verse 1
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• Famous lines from movies intro.
• Which film and who said it?
(1).
“May the Force be with you.”
• Star Wars, 1977
• It is said by a minor character called, General Dodonna,
• It is later memorably repeated by Han Solo in a wry farewell to Luke Skywalker.
(2).
“There's no place like home.”
• The Wizard of Oz, 1939
• Dorothy.
(3).
"You're gonna need a bigger boat."
• Jaws, 1975
• Chief Brody
(4).
"To Infinity And Beyond"
• Toy Story 1995 to 2022
• Buzz Aldrin.
(5).
“Oh, I don’t want to think about that today. I’ll think about that tomorrow,
because after all...tomorrow is another day!”
• “Gone With the Wind”:
• Scarlett O’Hara was the speaker.
• TRANSITION:
• These words conclude, ‘Gone with the Wind.’
• (They are words that Scarlett repeats in various forms throughout the book).
• When tough times come along, and hardships plague her.
• She knows that she tends to react wrongly,
• That then brings feelings of guilt and helplessness,
• And she desperately does not want to reflect on her life.
• Instead of dealing with the issues,
• Scarlett always puts it off until another, different day, which never seems to come.
• Scarlett’s belief is that “tomorrow is another day”.
• This lets the reader or movie goer know,
• That she will survive in the face of whatever change comes along.
• She is optimistic about the future.
• TRANISTION:
• Scarlett’s optimism is based simply on another day another chance.
• The book of Proverbs gives to us a much stronger foundation for the future:
• We have advice, principles, and guidelines,
• That help us to look forward to tomorrow with confidence and hope.
(1). Good heart - Proverbs chapter 11 verse 3
NIV:
“The integrity of the upright guides them,
but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity”.
GNB:
“If you are good, you are guided by honesty. People who can't be trusted are destroyed by their own dishonesty.”
Ill:
• Stuart Briscoe (was a British preacher, author, and broadcaster),
• He tells the story of when he worked for a bank.
• He was young, new, and just learning the business.
• When, one day his boss told him, "If Mr. So, & So calls for me, tell him I'm out."
• Briscoe replied, "Oh, are you planning to go somewhere?"
• His boss said, "No, I just don't want to speak to him, so tell him I'm out."
• Stuart Briscoe replied,
• "Let me make sure I understand - Do you want me to lie for you?"
• The boss got angry and mad at him. He was outraged!
• Then Stuart quickly prayed, and God gave him a flash of insight.
• He then said to his boss.
"You should be happy, because if I won't lie for you,
isn't it safe to assume that I won't lie to you?"
• That appeased his boss’s anger,
• And Stuart kept his integrity.
• TRANSITION:
• Integrity is being true to what you believe.
• If it is wrong to lie at Church, then it is also wrong to lie at home or at work.
This Proverb says, “The integrity of the upright will guide them.”
• The man or woman who lives with integrity,
• Will enjoy a life without shame or secrets or self-made repercussions.
• They will have honesty and integrity to guide them.
By way of contrast.
• The man or woman who lives without integrity,
• One who is unfaithful to what they believe.
• Will find life to be false and crooked, & sooner or later they will experience a disaster.
(2). Bad Rational - Proverbs chapter 14 verse 12
NIV:
“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death”.
TLB:
“Before every man there lies a wide and pleasant road that seems right but ends in death.”
Ill:
• I started my sermon with a 1939 illustration from the movie, ‘Gone with the wind.’
• So let me give you another one from that year.
• (Yep, I know how to be contemporary!)
• Author L. Frank Baum sat reading the labels on his filing cabinet,
• The cabinet was labelled with alphabetical divisions 'A - N' and 'O - Z’.
• From drawer two came the name that would be in the title of his book (and film), ‘Oz.’
• (there are over 50 movie adaptations of the original story).
• You know the characters, Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow &the Cowardly Lion.
• They go on an adventure searching for love, wisdom, and courage.
• All they need to do is follow the Yellow Brick Road,
• And they will find the One who will give us everything that we seek.
• From the film came a very well-known song or two,
• (although they nearly cut the song ‘somewhere over the rainbow’, due to time)
• DVD CLIP:
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/W1c4aefMwec
• If they step off that Yellow Brick Road then they are in big trouble,
• No matter how sincere they are or what they think they know.
• TRANSITION:
• The lesson in the film is, follow that Yellow Brick Road and you will be OK!
Solomon wrote something similar some 3000 years earlier.
• He says, “Choose your path in life wisely!”
• There is a way that seems right to a man or woman.
• But be careful because feelings and human reasoning alone can be dangerous!
The principle in this proverb is how deceptive evil is.
• It might promise to deliver happiness, power, and the good life,
• But so often it cannot sustain what it gives.
Ill:
• Fast food advertising.
• The food always looks so nice in the photograph,
• But in real life, the burgers are lukewarm, the salad is limp, and the fries are saggy.
• That is why no-one ever looks happy eating a MCD happy meal!
• TRANSITION:
• The promise and the delivery are often far apart.
• The solution is to follow that Yellow Brick Road!
• Or in this case follow your Creator, the guide and his book the Bible.
• That road leads to life not death.
• The principle of this proverb is so important that God repeated it again,
• In chapter 16 verse 25.
(3). Wise Advice – Proverbs chapter 15 verse 22
NIV:
“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed”.
GNB:
“Get all the advice you can, and you will succeed; without it you will fail.”
Ill:
A few quotes on advice/counselling.
"By the time a man asks you for advice, he has generally made up his mind what he wants to do and is looking for confirmation rather than counselling."
“We could all save ourselves a lot of words if we'd only remember that people rarely take advice unless they have to pay for it.”
“The trouble with good advice is that it usually interferes with your plans.”
• TRANSITION:
• Advice can be a wonderful thing … or a disaster.
• When taking advice make sure you listen to people who are,
• Trustworthy, loving, godly and wise.
• Don’t just ask Fred or Freeda from down thew road.
• Go to those you believe to be trustworthy, loving, godly and wise.
This Proverb reminds us that,
• Without advice/counsel, plans go awry, they go wrong.
• The difference between success and failure,
• Can often be found in those who you listen too.
Ill:
• On Wednesday in the UK Rishi Sunak the British Prime Minister,
• Announces a general election for July.
• But Rishi like all world leaders (perhaps better to say, most),
• Don’t make decisions alone, they all have a Cabinet or body of advisors.
• These advisors are supposed to give help, clarity, facts and practical solutions,
• To the problems that the Prime Minister will face.
• You will have your opinion as to how good and effective they have been.
• But the opposition or next Prime Minster will act just the same,
• He will have to listen to his advisors.
• TRANSITION: no human being will always be right.
• And in the big decisions of life, wise is the person who takes advice.
• Even if we might not like the advice given.
• Normally there is more insight from many people than from one.
• Getting many eyes to see and many minds to think about plans,
• Can often see those plans established and successful.
• Yet, when taking advice make sure you listen to people who are,
• Trustworthy, loving, godly and wise.
(4). Divine Guidance - Proverbs chapter 16 verse 9
NIV:
“In their heart’s humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps”.
GNB:
“You may make your plans, but God directs your actions.”
Now don’t miss read this Proverb.
• Solomon says, “In their hearts humans plan their course.”
• That is a good thing.
• If you did not plan than you would not have Sunday dinner to go back to.
• Your freezers, fridges and cupboards would be bare.
• Your home would be in darkness because you did not budget for electricity,
• And your water might have been turned off as well.
• From simplistic plans to more important,
• What about work, that holiday, birthdays, anniversaries etc.
• Life has to be planned out,
• So, the Proverb is not saying, don’t make plans.
• Rather it is saying, think about how and why you make plans,
• Are those plans in line with God’s will for your life!
We plan as we can and should, but here is the point:
• Our plans often come from our desires.
• e.g. I have my holiday all booked up and planned out in July.
• e.g. I have made lots of plans for our summer Camp.
• e.g. I have even made plans for us as a family for Christmas 2024.
• Now those plans reflect my desires, what I want to happen.
• But I know that all my plans may be changed, cancelled, or go pear-shaped and fail.
Ill:
• In the little Gospel Hall that I was saved in.
• Every service when notices were given out,
• The person who publicly read them always finished them saying, ‘DV’.
• ‘DV’ is ‘Deo Volente’ (Latin: God Willing).
• This phrase expresses the idea that something will happen if it is God’s will.
• e.g. “We’ll meet again next week, DV.”
I think this is the point Solomon is making in the Proverb.
• As the saying goes, “Thus man proposes, and God disposes.”
• Taken from the book, ‘The Imitation of Christ’,
• A 15th-century book by the German minister Thomas à Kempis
• You can make many plans, and we need to for life.
• But in the end, your fate lies in the hands of God.
(5). Upward Profit - Proverbs chapter 21 verse 5
NIV:
“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty”.
GNB:
“Plan carefully and you will have plenty.
if you act too quickly, you will never have enough.”
Ill:
• Josh McCann has got an allotment.
• If when he pops up to his patch, he simple sits in a deck chair drinking cup of tea,
• Then his family cannot expect any fresh vegetables.
• But if he plans out what he wants to grow,
• He prepares the soil, uses the right compost,
• Waters his patch when the sunshine eventually comes.
• He should be successful in what the ground produces.
• TRANSITION:
• When good planning is combined with hard work there will be a harvest of plenty.
• And when you don’t plan and you won’t work hard,
• You can guarantee a failed harvest!
(6). Essential Dependence - Proverbs chapter 21 verse 31
“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD”.
Ill:
• A horse in battle at the time of Solomon,
• Was comparable to having a tank in battle today.
• It was a fearsome weapon.
Not a lot of people know this but…
• But during World War II
• The Soviet Union once trained dogs to become anti-tank dogs,
• They did this by placing explosives on their backs.
• These dogs were trained to run under enemy tanks.
• With the explosives were then remotely detonated in order to destroy the target tank.
• According to Stephen Pile in his book, ‘Heroic failures.’
• The Soviets trained the dogs on Russian tanks,
• So (yes, you’ve guessed it!), when released instead of running under German tanks,
• They ran straight under the Russian ones!
• TRANSITION: You can prepare a dog, a tank or a horse for battle.
• (Of course, that preparation can be good or bad).
• But in the end says Solomon. It is God who gives victory.
The point of the Proverb:
• It is wise to make the best preparations for battle,
• But ultimately one should not trust in horses or human weapons alone,
• We need to trust in God himself for victory.
• TRANSITION:
• When it comes to spiritual warfare,
• It is even more important to exercise active faith and dependence on God.
(7). Daily Trust - Proverbs chapter 27 verse 1
NIV:
“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring”.
GNB:
“Never boast about tomorrow. You don't know what will happen between now and then.”
• It is human nature to be confident in what the future holds.
• It is easy to boast about our plans for tomorrow,
• e.g. How many planned to go to yesterday’s FA Cup Final.
• Only for their car to break down on the way or maybe an accident or illness.
• e.g. How many of you had to rearrange your own plans this week?
• Work, home, school, college?
• It is human nature to make plans and expect them to always happen.
• But often tomorrow has some surprises in store for us,
Point of the Proverb is:
• Not ruling out wise planning for the future,
• But rather don’t be overconfident that you are able to control the future.
Ill:
• Charles Spurgeon (English Baptist preacher and author).
• Considered what a blessing it was that we do not know what a day may bring forth.
“To know the good might lead us to presumption, to know the evil might tempt us to despair. Happy for us is it that our eyes cannot penetrate the thick veil which God hangs between us and to- morrow, that we cannot see beyond the spot where we now are, and that, in a certain sense, we are utterly ignorant as to the details of the future. We may, indeed, be thankful for our ignorance.”
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=WsHUyQOivlMDE7zgWWYGr6Xw4dFFPES9
SERMON VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/T4Lza6zqOMk
