We had a GREAT service this morning...
The Harvest Team shared some of their projects...
We prayed over the Operation Christmas Child boxes...
(you still have a chance to get a box done...CLS chapel box dedication Teusday)
Here's some notes from my well received sermon this morning...
Holiday Trip thru PROVERBS...
Don't check out on me this morning if you're single...
We all need to uphold the biblical standards of marriage!
This stuff is transferrable to other relationships...
There's a reason the church is called the bride of Christ...
We have seen a tremendous attack upon the family in the last generation. There has been a
re-definition of the family by our culture...
What used to be good is now bad
What used to be normal is now unusual
What used to be sinful is now normal
What used to be unheard of is now talked about!
In fact, our culture is so full of lies and myths about marriage...
What used to be good is now bad
What used to be normal is now unusual
What used to be sinful is now normal
What used to be unheard of is now talked about!
In fact, our culture is so full of lies and myths about marriage...
Myth #1: Marriage is Bad!
Don’t you hear that in our society? “Ball and chain; all the single people are having all the fun, while the married people’s lives are over. Pages of jokes, etc.
Why not just live together? “It is just a piece of paper!”
“He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.” PROVERBS 18:22
This old fellow had a bad car accident, and he woke up in the hospital, and his wife Ethel, with just a few scratches, was sitting by his side.
He got his bearings and then said, "Ethel, do you remember when I broke my leg when we were hiking? You were right there with me. You are committed to me!
Do you remember when I got fired from my job, and you were right there with me? You are committed to me!
Do you remember that time that tree fell and knocked me down, and you were right there with me?
And now we had this car wreck and you were right there with me. Ethel," he said, "I think You're bad luck!"
Why not just live together? “It is just a piece of paper!”
“He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.” PROVERBS 18:22
This old fellow had a bad car accident, and he woke up in the hospital, and his wife Ethel, with just a few scratches, was sitting by his side.
He got his bearings and then said, "Ethel, do you remember when I broke my leg when we were hiking? You were right there with me. You are committed to me!
Do you remember when I got fired from my job, and you were right there with me? You are committed to me!
Do you remember that time that tree fell and knocked me down, and you were right there with me?
And now we had this car wreck and you were right there with me. Ethel," he said, "I think You're bad luck!"
Pastor Brent Sorlien introduced me to this great book...
The Case for Marriage (not a Christian book, but social science).
• Unmarried people are far more likely to die young—especially men. Statistically, divorce is as dangerous to a man's health as starting to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day. Married people live longer (or it just seems that way!)
• Married people have more money, and their money goes further. So why not just live together? Living together doesn't offer nearly as many financial benefits as marriage, because married couples make long-term plans and decisions. The secret is an added ingredient: commitment.
• Married people not only have far more sex than singles, but they enjoy it more, both physically and emotionally. Not the image Hollywood portrays. And, the long-term emotional commitment of marriage brings more sexual satisfaction than found with couples that just live together.
• Even in bad, "high-conflict" marriages (excluding when there's abuse), divorce generally creates more problems than it solves. That's especially true when children are involved, since they on average become worse off educationally, financially, and psychologically, from the time their parents get divorced all the way into adulthood. This concept's difficult to accept, and seems illogical to someone "stuck" in a bad marriage. Yet it's borne out. One of the book's keystone pieces of research shows that high-conflict marriages—where partners fight a lot—usually turn good if the couples don't give up. In fact, 86% of unhappily married people who stuck it out for five years reported that their marriages became much happier.
What's more, the worst marriages showed the best turnarounds: 77 percent of people who rated their marriages "very unhappy" reported a change to "very happy" or "quite happy" five years later. Waite sees more than just statistics to prove this. "People will come up to me and say, 'My husband and I were really unhappy ten or fifteen years ago, and we thought a lot about getting divorced. I decided I was not going to kick him out, that we were going to stick with it. Now our kids are grown and we're really happy and I'm so glad we stayed together.' That is really news that ought to get out to married couples," she adds. "Just because you're not getting along now doesn't mean that if you get divorced things will get better. And, it doesn't mean if you stay together things will stay this bad. The chances that they'll get worse are low, and the chances that they'll get better are almost overwhelming."
Myth #2: Good marriages just “happen”.
“And they lived happily ever after.” Not real life.
A healthy, strong marriage takes hard work, commitment, and a sense of humor...
Guard your marriage!
A healthy, strong marriage takes hard work, commitment, and a sense of humor...
Guard your marriage!
The Lord may even use you to guard your friend's or family's marriages...
“Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a wise wife is a gift from the Lord.” Pr. 19:14 NCV
How can you be mad at a dead plant if you didn’t take care of it?
Rabbit Trail...Joe (Ethel's son) gave a good mini-sermon at the funeral yesterday...He said, his parents taught him to never DATE the church but to be COMMITTED...
What are you doing to grow and care for your church? Are you committed?
How can we grow in HOSPITALITY...helping our guests stick...
Myth #3: Sexual sin is no big deal.
Turn on the TV...our society thinks SIN is no big deal...
Proverbs 5-7 are almost entirely warning of the trap of adultery. The setting is a wise man warning his sons of the dangers of sexual sin.
“My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
listen carefully to my wise counsel.
2 Then you will show discernment,
and your lips will express what you’ve learned.
3 For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey,
and her mouth is smoother than oil.
4 But in the end she is as bitter as poison,
as dangerous as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave.
6 For she cares nothing about the path to life.
She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it.
7 So now, my sons, listen to me.
Never stray from what I am about to say:
8 Stay away from her!
Don’t go near the door of her house!
9 If you do, you will lose your honor
and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved.
10 Strangers will consume your wealth,
and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
11 In the end you will groan in anguish
when disease consumes your body.
12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!
If only I had not ignored all the warnings!
13 Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers?
Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors?
14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin,
and now I must face public disgrace.” 5:1-14 NLT
Our culture has done away with standards against adultery and sexual sin; anything goes. But the Bible stands strong against it.
Proverbs 5-7 are almost entirely warning of the trap of adultery. The setting is a wise man warning his sons of the dangers of sexual sin.
“My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
listen carefully to my wise counsel.
2 Then you will show discernment,
and your lips will express what you’ve learned.
3 For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey,
and her mouth is smoother than oil.
4 But in the end she is as bitter as poison,
as dangerous as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave.
6 For she cares nothing about the path to life.
She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it.
7 So now, my sons, listen to me.
Never stray from what I am about to say:
8 Stay away from her!
Don’t go near the door of her house!
9 If you do, you will lose your honor
and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved.
10 Strangers will consume your wealth,
and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
11 In the end you will groan in anguish
when disease consumes your body.
12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!
If only I had not ignored all the warnings!
13 Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers?
Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors?
14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin,
and now I must face public disgrace.” 5:1-14 NLT
Our culture has done away with standards against adultery and sexual sin; anything goes. But the Bible stands strong against it.
Positive contrast:
“Drink water from your own well—
share your love only with your wife.
16 Why spill the water of your springs in the streets,
having sex with just anyone?
17 You should reserve it for yourselves.Never share it with strangers.
18 Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you.
Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love.
20 Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman,
or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman?” 5:15-20 NLT
God is not “anti-sex” it is his creation; he just has guidelines for our enjoyment and our best in mind.
Myth #4: I’d be happier with someone else.
the church hopper, the person always moving...You go with You...YOU are the common denominator in every poor relationship!
Instead of changing spouses, why not change expectations? No perfect spouse; not responsible to make you happy; to meet all your needs – only God can do that!
Myth #5: I’m stuck!
It's all about ATTITUDE!
Solomon might have been having a bad day when he wrote this...
9 Better to live on a corner of the roof
than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife.” 21:9; 19
“A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day; restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand.” 27:15-16
9 Better to live on a corner of the roof
than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife.” 21:9; 19
“A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day; restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand.” 27:15-16
That word “quarrelsome” can mean “nagging, discord, strife”.
I know a lot of nagging husbands...POOR HOLLY has had to listen to my constant dripping...
Only YOU can control your attitude! While you can’t change your spouse, you can take charge of your attitude toward your spouse, your marriage, and life in general.
Want to improve your marriage? Ask yourself, “What would make me a better spouse?” Then do something with that answer! (friend, co-worker, brother, daughter...)
“If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” Mt. 5:41
Puzzling verse – what does it mean? Roman Empire could force a boy to carry his pack for a mile. It was so common, that boys would find exactly where a mile was in both directions, and drive a stake in the ground. When they reached the stake, they would drop the pack – they had done their duty, and they would do no more. In marriage, in relationships, we know we need to go the first mile. But how often do we say, “I’ve done my mile, and I am done!” Jesus said, go two miles! Go further, do more, give a little bit more than the minimum and see what happens! Quit keeping score! Quit giving 50% -- quit dropping the pack at exactly one mile – and see what happens in your marriage!
Relationship wisdom from Jesus: learn to be a second mile person.
Want to improve your marriage? Ask yourself, “What would make me a better spouse?” Then do something with that answer! (friend, co-worker, brother, daughter...)
“If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” Mt. 5:41
Puzzling verse – what does it mean? Roman Empire could force a boy to carry his pack for a mile. It was so common, that boys would find exactly where a mile was in both directions, and drive a stake in the ground. When they reached the stake, they would drop the pack – they had done their duty, and they would do no more. In marriage, in relationships, we know we need to go the first mile. But how often do we say, “I’ve done my mile, and I am done!” Jesus said, go two miles! Go further, do more, give a little bit more than the minimum and see what happens! Quit keeping score! Quit giving 50% -- quit dropping the pack at exactly one mile – and see what happens in your marriage!
Relationship wisdom from Jesus: learn to be a second mile person.
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