The Power Of A Pencil

THE POWER OF A PENCIL

(5 things you can learn from a plain old pencil)

John 10:28-30

Rev. Tim Porter

DID YOU KNOW (Background)

I'm sure none of you in here know life with out the pencil being in it. Right?

DID YOU KNOW - The first Pencil was invented in ancient Rome by Romans and called a Stylus, Scribes used this thin metal rod to leave light but readable marks papyrus (an early form of paper) but pencil history doesn't stop there........

After the discovery of a large graphite deposit in England in 1564. The graphite was found to be better than lead because it left a darker mark, but the mineral was so brittle that it required a holder

Now originally, the graphite sticks were wrapped in string and then later inserted in hollowed -out wooded sticks. THIS IS WHEN THE WOOD CASED PENCIL WAS BORN.

Pencils were mass produced in Germany in 1662 and in the 19th century during the industrial revolution an active pencil industry developed. by a man named Nicholas Jacques Conte (a French army officer)

Several years later Mr. Hymen Lip man came up with the idea of the eraser. He tried to pattern it but couldn't, because did not invent the pencil. Later the pencil and eraser were united into one piece.

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY A PENCIL IS YELLOW? It is not so that it can be found on a cluttered desk or seen if dropped in the grass. In fact the pencil was painted yellow in 1890,,,, because the best graphite in the world came from China. The American pencil makers wanted a way to tell people that their pencils contained the very best Chinese graphite. So they were painted yellow....yellow in China stands for royalty.

THIS IS HOW WE GOT OUR MODERN YELLOW #2 PENCIL.

INTRODUCTION:

The Pencil maker Nicholas J. Conte took the pencil aside, just before putting it into the box. He said there 5 things you need to know, He told the pencil, before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.

1... You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow your self to be held in someone's hand.

2... You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil

3... You will be able to correct mistakes you make

4... The most important of is what's inside.

5... On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write

The pencil seemed to understand and promised Mr. Conte to remember, and went into the box with purpose in it's heart.

TODAY'S MESSAGE IS "PENCIL POWER" 5 THINGS YOU CAN LEARN FROM THE PENCIL YOU HOLD IN YOUR HAND.

I.) ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE HELD

Just like the pencil, in the hand of the right person, can do some amazing things if you allow yourself to be held in God's hand.

** A pencil can make beautiful drawings in the hand of an artist.

** A pencil can craft amazing stories in the hand of writer.

** A pencil can solve the most complex math equations in the hand of an a mathematician.

** A pencil can write some of the coolest music in the hands of a musician

** A pencil can write the most touching note in the hands of a loved one.

But in the wrong hands, A pencil can become useless or worse, used for the wrong things.

In the hand of a 2 yr. old, a pencil becomes a dangerous toy

In the hand of an enraged friend, a pencil becomes a dangerous weapon.

LIFE ILLUSTRATION:

When I was in middle school, we would have pencil fights, outside at lunch. I was the school champ. One Friday at lunch we were having a good old pencil fight, it had come down to me and one other guy (Mark Harbin) the winner would be the new school champ. After 3 round I won by breaking his last #2 yellow pencil! Mark became so mad, he went into a rage, it became a very heated The outcome I was stabbed 4 times with a pencil, once in my arm, leg, my finger and in my right eye. Ye! I still have the lead in me to prove it.

In the hand of an ill- tempered teenager, a pencil becomes an instrument of perverse language on a bathroom stall.

3. But we're like the pencil, in the sense that we have the ability and the capacity to do some pretty awesome things as long as we're in the right hands. In the hands of God, your possibilities are endless. Your story is as yet untold, but your life is being written by the hand of God.