TEXT: No Certain Text
TITLE: AN EVERYDAY SURVIVAL KIT
(Youth Service – Day before school starts back illustrated sermon)
[Items needed: toothpick, rubber band, band aid, pencil, eraser, chewing gum, mint, candy kiss, & a tea bag.]
Toothpick – to remind you to pick out the good qualities.
Matthew 7:1-5 – “(1) Judge not, that you be not judged. (2) For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. (3) And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? (4) Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? (5) Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Matthew 7:3 (NIV) – “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”
For some reason we are real good at picking out the bad things in people’s lives but not the good. Our radar’s seem too homed in only on the bad qualities of a person.
Rubber band – to remind you to be flexible, things might not always go the way you want, but it will work out.
Romans 8:28 – “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
Only in our dreams does everything go the way we want them to.
Band-Aid – to remind you to heal hurt feelings, yours or someone else’s.
Colossians 3:12-14 – “(12) Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; (13) bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. (14) But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.”
Proverbs 24:17 – “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles.”
Pencil – to remind you to list your blessings everyday.
Ephesians 1:3 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”
Psalm 103:2 – “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”
Psalm 68:19 – “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation! Selah.”
Eraser – to remind you that everyone makes mistakes, and it’s okay.
Genesis 50:15-21 – “(15) When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, ‘Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.’ (16) So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, ‘Before your father died he commanded, saying, (17) thus you shall say to Joseph: I beg you, please forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.’ And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. (18) Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, ‘Behold, we are your servants.’ (19) Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? (20) But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. (21) Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.’ And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.”
Chewing gum – to remind you to stick with it and you can accomplish anything.
Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
DETERMINATION Michael Jordan is known by all as one of the best basketball players of all time. It hasn’t always been that way though. During Jordan’s sophomore year (1978-79) at Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina, he didn’t make the varsity team. Leroy Smith (who never made it to the NBA) beat out Michael Jordan for the only sophomore spot on the varsity squad. Jordan settled for Junior Varsity. "He didn’t sulk or threaten to quit. He just started working harder and improving his game," said his high school coach, Fred Lynch. "If anything, it made him more determined," noted Lynch. Of course we shouldn’t fault Lynch (assistant coach during Jordan’s days) - Leroy was 6’7" and Michael was just 5’10"! IOWJUN91
SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP
A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer’s well. The farmer heard the mule braying – or whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together and told them what had happened. He enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.
Initially, the old mule was hysterical! (Wouldn’t you be with dirt being flung on you?) But as the farmer & his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back, HE SHOULD SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP! This he did, blow after blow.
“Shake it off and step up…shat it off and step up…shake it off and step up!” he repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed the old mule fought panic & just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP!
Well, it wasn’t long before the old mule, battered and exhausted STEPPED TRIUMPHANTLY OVER THE WALL OF THAT WELL! What seemed like would bury him, actually blessed him…all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.
Mint – to remind you that you are worth a mint to your heavenly father
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John 3:16-17 – “(16) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (17) For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Candy Kiss – to remind you that everyone needs a kiss or a hug everyday.
1 John 4:7 – “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”
1 Peter 5:14 – “Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.”
1 Thessalonians 5:26 – “Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss.”
Kissing the lips by way of affectionate salutation was customary among near relatives of both sexes, both in patriarchal & in later times. Between individuals of the same sex, & in a limited degree between those of different sexes, the kiss on the cheek as a mark of respect or an act of salutation has at all times been customary in the East. In the Christian church the “holy kiss” or “kiss of love” was practiced not only as a friendly salutation but as an act symbolical of love & Christian brotherhood.
Tea Bag – to remind you to relax daily and go over that list of God’s blessings.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 – “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
