Celebration Service 11/9/08

Opening Church Service today I felt like that preacher (me) just wouldn't shut up...
Lots of Announcements:
LAST WEEK TO PREPARE YOUR OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD BOXES...
Christian Life School invites you to LADIES NIGHT OUT this Thursday eve...
Young At Heart Thanksgiving Potluck this Saturday afternoon...
Grab a Missions Newsletter and reply to it from Holly's bulletin board...
Homebuilders had a great re-start, need volunteers for the babies in the nursery Wed. eve...
SO EXCITED ABOUT WHAT GOD IS DOING: some churches and businesses of our little town are coming together, we've formed a Youth Council, we're creating a Youth Center, pray...
PLEASE PRAY:
Mesmans in a bad car accident...
Brenhaugs need comfort as Grandma enters eternity...
Brooks traveling to family emergency...
remember to pray for your church family...many needs...many praises too!
I was proud of our worship team today...I think we are truly improving...
Some notes from today's sermon:

A Holiday Road Trip: Searching for Wisdom
Livin the Lazy Life

Don't forget the challenge this Holiday Season...a chapter a day from Proverbs (31 chaps)...
A Proverb is a short, memorable statement that describes how life usually works.

“Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.” Proverbs 10:4

My pastor, Brent Sorlien, always encouraged me to find BALANCE...It is disobedient to God to not rest (workaholism)...and it is disobedient to be lazy...

“The devil never takes a vacation, so why should we?” Since when is the devil our role model?

We all have an area of laziness in our life that needs to be addressed...Listen to the Holy Spirit...

The #1 Problem of Living the Lazy Life: Procrastination.

Procrastination is avoiding people, situations and decisions that need to be dealt with! Most things do not get better on their own! Problems don’t just “go away”...I hate it when I preach at myself...

“I went past the field of the sluggard,
past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment;
31 thorns had come up everywhere,
the ground was covered with weeds,
and the stone wall was in ruins.
32 I applied my heart to what I observed
and learned a lesson from what I saw:
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
34 and poverty will come on you like a bandit
and scarcity like an armed man.” Proverbs 24:30-34

A very shy man fell in love with a young woman, but he was too shy to let her know! So he came up with a plan. He would write he a love letter every day – send it to her by mail – and after a year, he would ask her for a date. He faithfully followed his plan, and at the end of the year, he had the courage to ask her out – only to discover that she had married the mail man!

“A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.” Proverbs 20:4

One day in July, a farmer sat in front of his shack, smoking his corncob pipe. Along came a stranger who asked, "How's your cotton coming?"
"Ain't got none," was the answer. "Didn't plant none. 'Fraid of the boll weevil."
"Well, how's your corn?" "Didn't plant none. 'Fraid o' drouth."
"How about your potatoes?" "Ain't got none. Scairt o' tater bugs."
The stranger finally asked, "Well, what did you plant?"
"Nothin'," answered the farmer. "I just played it safe.

What is it in our lives that we are “playing it safe” with? What are we putting off?

ASK: What am I putting off – that I just need to do?

The #2 Problem of Living the Lazy Life: Making excuses.

“The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns,
but the path of the upright is a highway.” 15:19

The problem with excuses, though, is that they’re like armpits. Everyone’s got a couple and they usually stink.

“Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.” George Washington Carver

A class of high school sophomores had been assigned a term paper. Now the day of reckoning had come, the papers were due to be handed in. The teacher knew that a particular student, named Gene, had not been working steadily on his paper as others had in the class. He was prepared for some sort of excuse. When the teacher went to collect the papers Gene said, "My dog ate it." The teacher, who had heard them all, gave Gene a hard stare of unbelief. But Gene insisted and persisted, "It's true. I had to force him, but he finally ate it!

Try these on for size: “I would do that if; It’s not my fault; Everyone else is doing it; I just want what is coming to me; If only you knew my background / my family / my physical problems.” We’ve got to ask ourselves: “Am I making an excuse just to protect my own laziness?”

Drs. Minirth & Meyer have written a book about overcoming depression entitled "Happiness Is a Choice." They wrote, "As psychiatrists, we cringe whenever Christian patients use the words, `I can’t’ & `I’ve tried.’ Any good psychiatrist knows that `I can’t’ & `I’ve tried’ are merely lame excuses. We insist that our patients stop saying `can’t’ & say `won’t’ instead." "They need to see what they are really doing, so we make them face up to it by saying, `I just won’t get along with my wife.’ `My husband & I won’t communicate.’ `I won’t discipline my kids the way I should.’ `I won’t find time to pray.’ `I won’t stop gossiping.’ When they change their "can’ts" to "won’ts" they stop avoiding the truth & start facing reality."

ASK: What excuse am I using?

The #3 Problem of Living the Lazy Life: Giving up

“How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?” 6:9

“As a door turns on its hinges,
so a sluggard turns on his bed.
15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.” 26:14-15

(turn to 6:6-11)
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
11 and poverty will come on you like a bandit
and scarcity like an armed man.” 6:6-11

ASK: What area of life have I “given up” on?