ARE YOU REALLY OUT OF PEANUT BUTTER?
LUKE 6: 37-49
OCTOBER 31, 2004
INTRODUCTION: That’s My Story by Collin Raye
(Lee Roy Parnell/Tony Haselden)
I came in as the sun came up She glared at me over her coffee cup She said where you been, so I thought real hard and said, I fell asleep in that hammock in the yard She said you don’t know it boy but you just blew it I said well that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it
That’s my story, that’s my story Well I ain’t got a witness I can’t prove it but That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it
Well I got that deer in the headlights look She read my face like the cover of a book, and said Don’t expect me to believe all that static ’Cause just last week I through that hammock in the attic My skin got so thin you could see right through it And I started that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it
That’s my story, that’s my story That’s my story, that’s my story Well I ain’t got a witness I can’t prove it but That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it
You know time comes when a wise man knows the best thing That he can do is just look her up in the eye
And beg for mercy and face the bitter truth
Well honey me and the boys played cards all night Wasn’t no hanky panky not a woman in sight And I know I shoulda called and baby I’m really sorry Let’s get a cellular phone then you won’t have to worry
You know how much I love you and darling I’m ready to prove it And that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it
That’s my story, that’s my story That’s my story, that’s my story Well I ain’t got a witness and you know I can’t prove it but That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it You know I ain’t gonna do a thing Unless you approve it and Well I ain’t got a witness and you know I can’t prove it but That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it
You know I ain’t gonna do a thing Unless you approve it and That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it
THE REASON IT HAPPENED...
The Metropolitan Insurance Company has published this list:
Reasons/Excuses for Auto Accidents:
(1) “An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car, and vanished.”
(2) “The pedestrian had no idea which direction to go, so I ran over him.”
(3) “I had been driving for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had the accident.”
(4) “The indirect cause was a little guy in a small car with a big mouth.”
(5) “The other driver was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.”
(6) “I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law, and headed over the embankment.”
SOURCE: David O. Dykes in "The Skin of a Reason Stuffed with a Lie" on www.sermoncentral.com.
by David O. Dykes Contributed by: SermonCentral PRO
TRANSITION THOUGHT: Sometimes life is just hard to explain. Sometimes the way we live and act is even harder to explain. Often we find it necessary to make excuses for doing what we shouldn’t do and for not doing what we should do! An excuse often sounds ridiculous to everyone except the person giving it. We all might as well say, “We are just out of peanut butter”, because one excuse is as good as another. Could we imagine a life without excuses?? Well, there is coming a day when excuses won’t matter anymore, for on that day we will stand before the Lord before whom all heart are revealed and all thoughts are known. On that day the truth will be all that is shared. The only question that will be asked will be if Jesus was Lord of all or not Lord at all.
THESIS SENTENCE: Jesus is either Lord of all or not Lord at all!
I. PEANUT BUTTER IS A REALITY CHECK V. 46
A. A REALITY CHECK IS PERSONAL: YOU
B. A REALITY CHECK IS SPECIFIC: WHY
C. A REALITY CHECK IS TO THE POINT: WHAT I SAY
ILLUSTRATION: The two main excuses most people give for not praying is that they don t have time and they don t have a place to go. Susanna Wesley, who was the mother of John and Charles Wesley back in the 1700’s, had 19 children. If anybody had an excuse for not praying but a need to pray it was her. Susanna would spend an hour every day in prayer. Where does a mother of 19 go to escape? Nowhere! What she would do is take her apron and flip it up over her head and spend an hour in prayer. Her children knew not to disturb her in that time because mother was in her apron praying.
Contributed by: Kent Lenard
TRUTH: ONE DAY JESUS WILL STAND BEFORE US AND ASK THE REAL QUESTION OF LIFE!
QUESTION: ARE WE READY TO GIVE AN ANSWER TODAY?
II. PEANUT BUTTER IS A PLACE TO STAND V. 47
A. A PLACE TO STAND IS WHERE JESUS IS: “COMES TO ME”
B. A PLACE TO STAND IS A RECEPTIVE HEART: “HEARS MY WORDS”
C. A PLACE TO STAND IS “GIT ER DONE”: “PUTS THEM INTO PRACTICE”
ILLUSTRATION: Richard Roney is Chief of Chaplain Services at the VA Medical Center in Marion, Illinois. He reminds pastors they aren’t the only ones who hear excuses about not attending church; as a hospital chaplain, he’s heard more than his share:
"It’s snowing outside. I never attend church in bad weather." (The chapel was on another floor in the same building!)
One lady commented, quite seriously, "I’m usually always sick on Sunday morning."
"The nurse doesn’t want me out of bed," one patient told a volunteer. But as the volunteer began to leave, the same patient asked, "If you’re going near the smoking room, could you give me a push?"
A favorite was the patient who said, "When I sing, I get nauseated.”
Contributed by: R. Darrel Davis
TRUTH: JESUS NEVER LEAVES US IN THE DARK WHEN IT COMES TO HOW HE EXPECTS US TO LIVE!
QUESTION: ARE WE WILLING TO LIVE HIS WAY?
III. PEANUT BUTTER IS A STORM PROOFED LIFE V. 48
A. A SPL IS PRODUCTIVE: BUILDING A HOUSE
B. A SPL TAKES EFFORT: DUG DOWN DEEP
C. A SPL IS FOUNDATIONAL: ON THE ROCK
D. A SPL IS REAL: “THE FLOOD CAME AND THE TORRENT STRUCK”
E. A SPL IS UNSHAKENED: COULD NOT SHAKE IT, BECAUSE IT WAS WELL BUILT.”
ILLUSTRATION: Zig Ziglar writes:
My brother, the late Judge Ziglar, loved to tell the story of the fellow who went next door to borrow his neighbor’s lawnmower.
The neighbor explained that he could not let him use the mower because all the flights had been canceled from New York to Los Angeles.
The borrower asked him what canceled flights from New York to Los Angeles had to do with borrowing his lawnmower.
"It doesn’t have anything to do with it, but if I don’t want to let you use my lawnmower, one excuse is as good as another."
[Excuses: Any Will Do?, Citation: Zig Ziglar, Something Else to Smile About (Thomas Nelson, 1999)]
Contributed by: A. Todd Coget
TRUTH: JESUS HAS A PLAN TO GET US SAFELY THROUGH ALL OF LIFE’S STORMS!
QUESTION: DO WE WANT TO SURVIVE THE PERFECT STORM?
IV. PEANUT BUTTER IS A COMPLETE COLLAPSE V. 49
A. A COMPLETE COLLAPSE IS NOT A LACK OF INFORMATION: “WHO HEARS MY WORDS”
B. A COMPLETE COLLAPSE IS A LACK OF EFFORT: NO PRACTICE
C. A COMPLETE COLLAPSE IS A LACK OF SUPPORT: NO FOUNDATION
D. A COMPLETE COLLAPSE IS THE SAME STORM: THE TORRENT STRUCK (ALSO VERSE 48)
E. A COMPLETE COLLAPSE IS DESTRUCTION: “ITS DESTRUCTION WAS COMPLETE”
ILLUSTRATION: John A Boor- I had an opportunity to work in a bakery while going to high school. I remember one particular day when the telephone rang and one of the ladies went to answer it. She put down the phone like it was hot and yelled, “He’s coming!” I wondered what in the world was going on. The ladies ran for their hairnets and men ran for clean aprons and clean caps. The boss told me to sweep the floor, and cover all the containers. There was a wild and excited look in his eyes. Everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I thought to myself, “Who is coming?” Suddenly through the front door entered a man in a suit with a case under his arm. As I observed him he began to walk around and check the bakery for any health hazards. I then realized that he was the state inspector for the Board of Health. After he left everyone breathed a sigh of relief and went back to work. One of the ladies told me that all the places of business always watched out for each other. The first one to see the inspector coming would then call the other business. They had a system of warning. When Jesus comes again there won’t be time to prepare a speech on all the good things we have been involved in. There won’t be time to tell him how our neighbors and friends hindered us in His service. There will be judgment> So then each one of us shall give an account of himself before God. God will not accept our excuses nor will He give us time to repent. Today is the time to prepare ourselves for His coming. Remember, “He is coming!”
Contributed by: Davon Huss
TRUTH: WHEN JESUS IS NOT LORD OF OUR LIVES, DESTRUCTION IS INEVITABLE!
QUESTION: ARE WE SURE THAT OUR FOUNDATION IS SURE?
CONCLUSION: DO YOU REMEMBER THE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS? CALLING JESUS LORD IS ALL ABOUT A LITTLE BRICK HOUSE. THE BAD OLD WOLF IS A COMIN’ AND WE HAD BETTER BE READY? THE DAY OF ACCOUNTABLILTY IS ALSO A COMIN’ AND WE BETTER BE READY. AND GUESS WHAT, YOU CAN’T BE READY UNTIL YOU ASK JESUS TO BE LORD OF YOUR LIFE. AND WHEN YOU ASK HIM TO BE LORD, THEN YOU HAVE TO DO WHAT HE SAYS! IF WE DON’T, ONE DAY HE WILL ASK, “WHY DO YOU CALL ME, ‘LORD, LORD,’ AND DO NOT DO WHAT IS SAY?” I DON’T BELIEVE A PERSON HERE WOULD EVER WANT TO HEAR JESUS ASKING THAT QUESTION. WHY NOT SETTLE IT NOW? ARE YOU REALLY OUT OF PEANUT BUTTER?
BENEDICTION: REVELATION 1: 5&6
