TWO LEGS OR A PIECE OF AN EAR...
SCRIPTURE: AMOS 3:9-12...
I. CARE AND CONCERN...
A. GOD CARES FOR US:
1. For Israel.
2. For Gentiles.
3. For the Lost.
4. For His Children.
B. THE PICTURE OF THE SHEPHERD:
1. The Shepherd as Leader:
2. The Shepherd as Provider:
3. The Shepherd as Protector:
C. HOW MUCH CARE AND CONCERN DO WE HAVE?
* Stanley C. Brown - Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 1 - A young boy, on an errand for his mother, had just bought a dozen eggs. Walking out of the store, he tripped and dropped the sack. All the eggs broke, and the sidewalk was a mess. The boy tried not to cry. A few people gathered to see if he was OK and to tell him how sorry they were. In the midst of the words of pity, one man handed the boy a quarter. Then he turned to the group and said, "I care 25 cents worth. How much do the rest of you care?"
* James 4:17 - Therefore, to him who knows to do good
and does not do it, to him it is sin.
* Words don’t mean much if we have the ability to do
more.
* Lynn H. Pryor, Leadership, Vol. 12, no. 1 - From 1986 to 1990, Frank Reed was held hostage in a Lebanon cell. For months at a time Reed was blindfolded, living in complete darkness, orchained to a wall and kept in absolute silence. Although he was beaten, made ill, and tormented, Reed felt most the lack of anyone caring. He said in an interview with Time, "Nothing I did mattered to anyone. I began to realize how withering it is to exist with not a single expression of caring around [me]. ... I learned one overriding fact: caring is a powerful force. If no one cares, you are truly alone."
* Does what you do really matter?
* Does your life make a difference?
* What are you doing that matters?
II. COMMITMENT...
* ILLUS- the story of the chicken and the pig feeding
the poor.
A. A DECISION:
* You must decide to make a commitment or not.
B. A DETERMINATION:
* You must have the faith, courage and deter-
mination to continue in the face of opposition.
* ILLUS - the two legs and a piece of an ear.