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May 13, 2018

Wisdom is into real-estate

Wisdom is into real-estate

Passage: Proverbs 2:1-22

Speaker: Patrick Lafferty

Series: Proverbs, Searching for Wisdom

When you see bumper stickers around Western Carolina snarkily saying “Don’t move here,” you realize what a coveted spot of real-estate this is. Land has always been of great meaning for humanity. In this week’s passage from Proverbs we’ll find that wisdom and land go hand in hand. What was the meaning of the land to Israel and how did wisdom factor in? Moreover, how are we to think of that (or any) land when we think of Jesus--who came when Israel lived under occupation in its own land and when many Israelites (prematurely) concluded Jesus had come to free the land of that occupation? Most of all, why should any of us care about that old, dusty land anyway, or wisdom’s relationship to it? Because it’s all about promises--and destinies.

Order of Worship

Pre-Service Text: James 1:5
Call To Worship: Isaiah 42:10-12 ESV
Old Testament Reading: Psalm 37:7-11
New Testament Reading: Matthew 5:1-5
Sermon Title: Wisdom is Into Real-Estate
Central Text: Proverbs 2:1-22
Benediction: Colossians 3:16-17

05.13.18 Sermon Slides

05.13.18 Song Lyrics

Illustration:

"Oklahoma - Land is Grand"

Readings:

Pre-Service Text: James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

Call To Worship: Isaiah 42:10-12 ESV
LEADER: 10 Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants. 11 Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits; let the habitants of Sela sing for joy, let them shout from the top of the mountains.

ALL: 12 Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare his praise in the coastlands.

Old Testament Reading: Psalm 37:7-11
7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! 8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. 9 For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. 10 In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. 11 But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.

New Testament Reading: Matthew 5:1-5
5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Central Text: Proverbs 2:1-22
1 My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 guarding the paths of justice
and watching over the way of his saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
10 for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 discretion will watch over you,
understanding will guard you,
12 delivering you from the way of evil,
from men of perverted speech,
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness
to walk in the ways of darkness,
14 who rejoice in doing evil
and delight in the perverseness of evil,
15 men whose paths are crooked,
and who are devious in their ways.

16 So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman,
from the adulteress with her smooth words,
17 who forsakes the companion of her youth
and forgets the covenant of her God;
18 for her house sinks down to death,
and her paths to the departed;
19 none who go to her come back,
nor do they regain the paths of life.

20 So you will walk in the way of the good
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will inhabit the land,
and those with integrity will remain in it,
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.

Benediction: Colossians 3:16-17
LEADER: 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

ALL: Amen.

Post-Service Text: James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

Related Scriptures:

  • Genesis 28:4
  • Deuteronomy 8:10
  • Proverbs 10:30
  • 2 Timothy 2:12
  • 2 Peter 3:13

Discussion Questions & Applications:

  1. Why did you move here, or choose to remain here when you had a choice? What of this area’s appeal delights you or keeps you here?
  2. How would you roughly define wisdom? In what areas of life have you gained some wisdom, and how did it happen? What was your part in that and what came to you in spite of your efforts?
  3. What are wisdom’s benefits according to this passage? What is meant by inheriting and remaining in the land, and why would wisdom be key to it?
  4. The promises about land in the Old Testament correspond to the Kingdom Jesus establishes in the New Testament. If the Kingdom comes all through the work of Jesus--not ours--and wisdom is what people need to enjoy life in His “land,” what are some implications for our motivations to find wisdom? What are the implications for our failures to act with wisdom?

Quotes:

We know we belong to the land
And the land we belong to is grand!
- From the title song from the musical Oklahoma!

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Related Media:

InView Media Album: 05.13.18