Everyday Wisdom - Proverbs

Everyday Wisdom - Proverbs

The Heart | Proverbs 4:23

Have you ever had one of those moments where you’re listening to a teaching or reading or watching a documentary and something “clicks” in your mind? You finally “get it” and the way you think has changed? Maybe it’s a radical “paradigm shift” or just a “aha moment.” Something is different.  I had one of moments this fall when I began reading Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp. This is a book on parenting, but he starts with the…

Family | Proverbs 23:22-25

For our Christmas series this year—Wisdom for the Holidays—I’ve extended our time in Proverbs. I’ve done this because we could all use a little help navigating a fun but sometimes difficult time of year. The first week I spoke on gifts, the second week on drinks, and this week I’m talking about family. For many of us, spending time with family, whether our nuclear family (immediate)—parents and children—or our extended family—in-laws, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc—is a big part of…

Wine | Proverbs 23:29-35

For the Christmas season this year I am talking about topics we encounter this time of year. Last week I preached on gifts and gift-giving since many of us are purchasing gifts for family and friends this time of year. Next week I’m preaching on family as we often spend time with family over the Holidays. Today, I’m preaching on drinking wine but more generally alcohol. As we go to work parties or spend time with friends we may be…

Wise Emotions | Proverbs 19:11-12

Emotions are everywhere! You have the ability to express what you are feeling perhaps more easily now than any other period in human history. When I was growing up we had texting, but you had to create the smiley face at the end of your sentence. For example I hope you have a great weekend. 🙂 The person receiving this text was encouraged by your happy little smile. But you could also write this: I hope you have a great…

Wise Influence | Proverbs 12:26

Last Saturday Joe, Jennie, John and myself went to a conference in Millis Mass. Millis is southwest of Boston near Medway. The conference was on frontline ministry. Maybe you’re new to Cornerstone and our use of the word “frontline” is new to you. We define our frontline this way: “Your Frontline is the place where you spend the majority of your time outside the church, where you are in contact with non-Christians.” – Life on the Frontline So our frontlines…

Wise Decision Making | Proverbs 16:1-9

Prudence is married, she has three children, and lives in a suburb of Boston. Her oldest boy is a freshman in high school and is doing great. Her youngest is in elementary school and loves it; but her middle child is in middle school and isn’t doing well. She’s hasn’t made any friends, sometimes gets picked on, is bored and uninterested with her education, and she’s begun acting out more at home. Prudence is worried about her daughter’s education as…

Wise Words | Proverbs 18:21

On a Podcast I listened to recently one of the speakers talked about barnacles. Did you know that the U.S. Navy reports Barnacles can slow down nuclear-powered ships by as much as 40%? Barnacles diminish the arrow-dynamics of boats, get inside engines, add weight on the hull, and can even crack the hull with smaller vessels. Barnacles expand and breed constantly and the navy spends $500 million a year to scrape barnacles off ships. Are your words the nuclear energy…

Wise Wealth | Proverbs 10:1-4

I want to kick of today’s sermon in Proverbs by reading you a verse from the gospel of Matthew. Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (NIV) These are Jesus’ words. They come from the Sermon on the Mount. He taught us to not store up treasurer on earth, where it can be destroyed, but to store it up in heaven, where it’s safe. And then he says, “For where your treasure is…. there…

Wise Parenting | Proverbs 22:6

Introduction A few weeks ago, Jonathan presented in his sermon the Dunning-Kruger Effect. I had never heard of this before, but it resonated with me. It felt true. Then he showed this graphic, and because of this typo, I knew I had to do more research on my own on this topic. I like this graphic is a little better. However, when it comes to the Dunning-Kruger effect, I have done just enough research to end up in the valley…

Wonder Woman | Proverbs 31:10-31

Do you remember when the movie Wonder Woman came out in 2017? Wonder Woman featured a strong, noble, courageous, sometimes insecure, but ultimately heroic female super hero, the Amazon warrior Diana Prince. When this movie came out it inspired little girls everywhere.  Right after this movie released in June 2017 this little girl was dressing up as Wonder Woman with a huge grin. She didn’t care it wasn’t Halloween or that it was summer. She was Wonder Woman!  This little…

Wise Leadership | Proverbs 31.1-9

Alan can’t for the life of him see why God still has him in this organization. It’s a [cold] place — this big bank — and he’s been thinking about leaving for a while. He’s been brought in to a team that’s being led by a much younger man who right now needs an older [leader] to steady the ship. Alan is that older [leader]. There are 130 in the team, their profitability is plummeting, and their employee engagement numbers…

The Humble Learner | Proverbs 30:1-33

A man walked into a bank with no mask or hat or sunglasses and robbed the bank at gunpoint in broad daylight. Then he did it again that same day at another bank, still with no mask or hat or sunglasses or disguise of any kind. The year was 1995 and there were security cameras. When the police came they examined the footage and showed a nice picture of the robber on the nightly news. They got tips right away,…
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