Wisdom or Foolishness | Wisdom for Life Week 3 | Pastor Andrew Cromwell

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:06]count.

[00:00:10]>> He says that and then all of a sudden he leaves like, "Oh crap, crap." And then I'm like >> my Junif. Long close.

[00:01:35]Okay.

[00:01:45]Hi everyone.

[00:01:47]>> My name is Michelle. Hi guys.

[00:01:49]>> I'm Drea.

[00:01:49]>> And we're so glad to have you guys with us. We're at our 10:30 service. It's been a beautiful day so far.

[00:01:55]>> And look at this cute little outfit she's wearing with the hospitality team.

[00:01:58]Why are you wearing this today? So today is move up Sunday and we are serving snow cones after service.

[00:02:06]>> Okay. For free.

[00:02:07]>> Yes. For free >> for the kiddos.

[00:02:08]>> For the kids.

[00:02:09]>> For the kiddos. Yeah. They're getting it cuz what's Move Up Sunday?

[00:02:12]>> So Move Up Sunday is So if you're in fifth grade, you're moving to sixth grade or and so on and so forth. So yes, we're celebrating that.

[00:02:19]>> Yeah, it's a big deal. We're having our kids now go into our junior high classes who were once in our regular CM services. So now they're heading into our pre-teen course like classes or they're going into our impact youth services for junior high and high school. So it's a big deal. We're excited for you guys.

[00:02:34]>> And so we're Yeah, I love it.

[00:02:36]>> Celebrating.

[00:02:36]>> Yeah, it's awesome. So we also got some stuff if you are a seventh or eighth grader and you want to do a lock in.

[00:02:44]We're having a junior high lockin coming up June 12th. And so that's just a time where your junior highers can come at the church. You drop them off in the evening. They spend the night. They play games. They do dances. They have bounce houses. They watch movies.

[00:02:58]>> Dance parties.

[00:02:59]>> Dance parties are for sure. And they can stay up all night if they want to or they can sleep. A lot of snacks.

[00:03:04]>> There will be supervision of course. And it's a good time. Yeah. It's really fun.

[00:03:08]>> We have it on lock. So parents go ahead and register your kids. Um it's a lot of fun. Yeah.

[00:03:15]>> For all of us.

[00:03:15]>> We have done it a couple times now. And so yeah, it's good times.

[00:03:19]>> And we need a lot of caffeine. So >> we get a lot of like to donate.

[00:03:24]Oh, and the same night we're also going to be doing our aligned married life event. So, myself and my husband are part of the married life team and we enjoy every single piece of it. We get to hear a really amazing word from our special speakers this month or excuse me in June from Stacy and Sylvia Gaston.

[00:03:41]So, you don't want to miss it. Sign up on the Church Center app. If you want to get more details and all the specifics on everything we're talking about today, where do you go, Trey?

[00:03:50]>> The Church Center app.

[00:03:52]>> Boom. There you go. That's awesome.

[00:03:56]So, we also got some stuff happening. We also got uh the summer camp is happening, too. When is that? It's going to be in July, I I believe. Yeah.

[00:04:03]>> So, in July, we got our summer camp for our high school kids, our junior high kids, and they get a chance to go hang out with everybody down south, meet some new people, make some new friends, and it's an opportunity for you parents to let your kids go and experience something, get out of their comfort zone.

[00:04:17]>> Absolutely. um when they do go, they they actually get stretched. So, those parents that are a little worried, just go ahead and send your kiddos. It'll be good for them.

[00:04:28]>> Yeah, it's awesome. Um we also have journey group um host training next week. So, if you have been in a journey group and you have been feeling that urge, that uncction that's saying, "Hey, you know what? I think I can do this. I think I can lead a group." We have the training happening next week for you guys. And so you want to make sure that you go to it and we're going to help you every single step along the way and your presence is needed. So we love journey groups. We're big on groups here. We have them all the time. Have you been a part of a journey group? Have you listened?

[00:05:01]>> Yes.

[00:05:01]>> Yeah.

[00:05:02]>> It's it's amazing. Um the Lord will be stretching you as well and I feel like it's good for your walk and your growth with the Lord. So >> we encourage sign up.

[00:05:11]>> Yeah.

[00:05:13]>> Sign up.

[00:05:13]>> So yeah. What else? Uh VBS is around the corner. Such a blessing. So if you guys are looking to volunteer in any kind of capacity, go ahead and sign up.

[00:05:25]>> And where do they do that at?

[00:05:26]>> The church center app.

[00:05:27]>> Have you And I I've served in VBS. VBS is an opportunity to bring your kids.

[00:05:32]Make sure that they have an awesome place to learn about the Lord. They do some dances. They do games. They do crafts. It's awesome. So make sure you guys get in there and yeah, sign them up. Volunteer. We need the volunteers.

[00:05:44]Um, and it's it's just a good time.

[00:05:46]>> It's a good time.

[00:05:47]>> Yeah, >> absolutely.

[00:05:48]>> Come in.

[00:05:49]>> Yes. So, um, service is about to begin.

[00:05:53]Go ahead and stand up where you're at.

[00:05:56]Um, so you can go ahead and worship. We love you guys.

[00:05:59]>> Love you.

[00:05:59]>> Good morning.

[00:06:03]>> Hey, we're going to jump into worship here. And I was inspired this morning from a psalm. Psalms 34 says this, "I will bless the Lord at all times," his praise will always be on my lips. That's a real sweet psalm to to read, but when it actually you have to live it out, it's a little bit different, right? We have seasons in our life. Some seasons are high, some seasons are low. But the psalmist makes a declaration here. He says, "I don't care if my life's at a high or my life's at a low. Praise will always be on my lips. And today, this morning, I hope we can take the words of the psalmist and say, God, would you help me be that type of person that no matter what season I'm in, no matter if it's a good season or bad season, that my mouth will be full of praises that exalt him. Can I hear an amen?

[00:07:00]And so, let's pray that God would help us to be people of praise no matter where we're at. So, Father, thank you so much for your goodness. And this morning, I pray that our mouths, God, would have praise in them that would actually be a sweet incense to you. I know it says in the Psalms that on the people's praise, God, that you're actually enthroned. And this morning, God, I pray that you would be enthroned on our praises. God, that we would lay our complaints down, lay all of the things that would try to hinder our praise, and that we would decide to pick up and put on the garment of praise today. And so, God, we worship you. We thank you for being so good to us. And I pray, God, that our song would be sweet to you. In Jesus, I pray. And everybody said with me, "Amen."

[00:07:53]>> Good morning, church. Good morning, church. It's good to see Let's get our hands up. We're going to worship today.

[00:07:58]Here we go.

[00:08:06]Praise you, Lord.

[00:08:09]We come to you, Jesus.

[00:08:15]We sing it together. King of kings, King of Kings, and Lord of all.

[00:08:24]Now behold the lamb upon the throne.

[00:08:31]Before you every crown will fall.

[00:08:37]We sing Jesus Christ you stand alone.

[00:08:41]Every voice we sing a hallelujah. We say halle hallelu.

[00:08:48]All the praise is yours. Sing holly, hallelu, our song forever more. Sing holy, holy, holy is the Lord. Say halle, hallelujah.

[00:09:08]All the praise is yours.

[00:09:15]All the praise is yours.

[00:09:21]We sing night sing and night in par that ancient eternal song.

[00:09:36]Sing heaven and earth will sing as one.

[00:09:41]Oh wine to the one who was and is to come. The one who was to come. Halle hallelu.

[00:09:53]All the praise is yours. Sing hal hallelu.

[00:10:00]A song forever more. Sing it. Holy.

[00:10:05]Holy.

[00:10:07]Holy is the Lord.

[00:10:10]Hallelu.

[00:10:14]All the praise is yours.

[00:10:20]All the praise is yours.

[00:10:27]We praise you God.

[00:10:32]Come on every voice we sing it. Praise Yah way. Praise Yahe way. Oh praise Yahe way. Sing praise to your name now and forever. Come on, sing it. Say, sing praise Yah way. That's it now. Praise Yahe way. Oh, praise Yah and forsake.

[00:11:02]Sing praise Yahe.

[00:11:06]Oh, praise Yahe.

[00:11:09]will praise your name now and forever now and forever.

[00:11:19]Halle Hallelu all the praises yours. Halle Hallelu a song forever.

[00:11:32]Halle hallelu.

[00:11:36]All the praise is yours. Halle hallelu.

[00:11:42]A song forever more. Sing. Holy.

[00:11:48]Holy.

[00:11:49]Holy is the Lord.

[00:11:52]Halle. Hallelu.

[00:11:56]All the praise is yours.

[00:12:02]Say, "Praise Yahe."

[00:12:05]Praise Yah.

[00:12:08]Praise Yah.

[00:12:12]Praise your name forever. Say, "Praise Yahe.

[00:12:22]Praise Yah.

[00:12:25]Praise the Lord now and forever.

[00:12:32]Come on, lift your voice. Lift your hands. Give him praise. Praise your way.

[00:12:46]Keep those hands away. Keep those hands going. We're going to be doing a new song this morning.

[00:12:53]Just with me if you know it crazy my sh my freom.

[00:13:18]What else can I say?

[00:13:30]Heat. Heat.

[00:13:40]Heat. Heat. Heat.

[00:14:01]In my heart with all that I got the world praise the one who broke my sh my freom. Oh my god.

[00:14:49]Heat. Heat. Heat.

[00:15:11]My freom can I see? Thank you Jesus for my sh Heat. Heat.

[00:16:02]Is he just like just like Change your praise.

[00:16:43]Yes. We praise you. We thank you for what you've done. You're so good. So good.

[00:16:51]So good to us.

[00:16:55]See everything change.

[00:17:02]Everything changed.

[00:17:05]It's getting harder to recognize the person I was before I encounter.

[00:17:15]And I don't walk like I used to. And I don't talk like I used to.

[00:17:22]I'm from the inside.

[00:17:25]I wash from the inside.

[00:17:29]Hallelu.

[00:17:32]Hallelu.

[00:17:35]I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood.

[00:17:42]Hallelu.

[00:17:45]Hallelu.

[00:17:48]I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood.

[00:17:58]You've only been in the blood say I cannot explain cannot explain nothing's more real than this in the presence of God.

[00:18:17]Oh my heart experience.

[00:18:20]When my shame hit the wayside and my sin met the most high.

[00:18:27]I was washed from the inside.

[00:18:30]I was washed from the inside out.

[00:18:34]Hallelu.

[00:18:37]Hallelu.

[00:18:40]I know it was a blood could only be.

[00:18:46]Hallelu.

[00:18:50]Hallelu.

[00:18:54]We wise to the only I never perform.

[00:19:25]perfection. We're striving for acceptance.

[00:19:32]Stolen by the blood never been without deserving earning. It's the gift that's free.

[00:19:43]Let me tell you by the blood. Oh, does anybody want to be holy and rightous?

[00:19:56]Let me tell you, it's only by the way.

[00:20:01]Does anybody want to be worthy for you?

[00:20:17]Hallelujah.

[00:20:21]Hallelu.

[00:20:24]I know it was hallelujah.

[00:20:30]Hallelu.

[00:20:34]Hallelu.

[00:20:37]I know it was my only one.

[00:20:57]Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

[00:21:09]Hallelu.

[00:21:12]Hallelu.

[00:21:16]I know it was the blood. Sing it again.

[00:21:19]Hallelujah.

[00:21:22]Hallelu.

[00:21:25]Hallelu.

[00:21:29]I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood. Oh, could have only been the blood.

[00:21:42]See, what can wash away?

[00:21:47]What can my sin?

[00:21:53]Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

[00:22:00]What can make me whole again?

[00:22:06]Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

[00:22:13]No one can wash away my sins.

[00:22:19]Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

[00:22:26]Heat. Heat. Heat.

[00:22:36]Heat.

[00:22:45]Heat.

[00:22:55]Heat. Heat.

[00:23:07]Heat. Heat.

[00:23:20]Heat. Heat. Heat.

[00:23:30]Heat. Heat.

[00:23:45]Heat. Heat.

[00:23:58]Hallelujah.

[00:24:01]Hallelujah.

[00:24:06]The blood holding in the blood and hallelu hallelu.

[00:24:16]>> Is the gift really given?

[00:24:18]>> I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood. And hallelu hallelu.

[00:24:30]I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood.

[00:24:52]find you at the lowest place.

[00:24:56]Who thought you'd feel me in the crowd?

[00:25:03]Who knew you'd make good of my mistakes?

[00:25:08]Nothing like I thought you were better.

[00:25:13]What a god. What a girl.

[00:25:19]What a god. What a god.

[00:25:25]What a god. What a you. What a god. What a god.

[00:25:39]My god, you choke for perfection.

[00:25:45]Cuz what kind of garlic for the lost?

[00:25:51]They say it's over for a sinner.

[00:25:56]What will you say?

[00:26:13]Oh my god.

[00:26:20]My god. My god.

[00:26:35]There is no one like you, Jesus.

[00:26:39]You're mighty to say that you're mighty to say.

[00:26:45]There's no one Jesus.

[00:26:56]Sing the highest place. The finest place I reach is at your feet. Then I've done it all. If the best thing that I've seen is your glory, then I see it all. You love that save my life. Forever satisfied. God, you are my everything.

[00:27:22]Cuz the highest place I reach is at your feet. Then I've done it all. The best thing that I see is your glory. But then I see it all. Your love has saved my life. Forever satisfy you.

[00:27:44]Heat. Heat. Heat.

[00:27:54]Everything seem to Heat. Heat.

[00:28:48]place that you're all the best that I see in your glory.

[00:28:57]Heat. Heat. Heat.

[00:29:09]Heat. Heat.

[00:29:20]Heat.

[00:29:22]Heat.

[00:29:32]Heat. Heat. Heat.

[00:29:43]You are my everything.

[00:29:48]You are You are my everything.

[00:29:53]>> We declare it today. You are my everything.

[00:30:00]God, my everything, my treasure, my portion.

[00:30:10]You're my joy and my delight.

[00:30:17]>> Are everything, Lord, cuz you paid the price to win my heart.

[00:30:28]Oh, thank you, Jesus.

[00:30:32]Thank you, Lord.

[00:30:35]for you paid the price to own our hearts.

[00:30:41]So we say thank you Jesus.

[00:30:44]Thank you Lord.

[00:30:47]Thank you Lord.

[00:30:56]What a god. What a god.

[00:31:00]Perfect.

[00:31:03]What a god. What a god. What a god. What a god.

[00:31:08]Would a god. What a god.

[00:31:11]What a god. What a god.

[00:31:18]Maybe before we sing something else real quick. Um I don't know. I just kind of get an impression that sometimes we can approach or come into moments like this at church and um I don't know sometimes maybe we always don't know how to respond. Um, but I would I would encourage and remind you all that that the Lord is here and that and that he paid a price so that we could stand before him blameless and and and sinless and guiltless that there's a a weight that can be lifted off of our shoulders because Jesus was born on the earth and he decided to to give himself up to pay the sacrifice of sin which is death on a cross for you and for me.

[00:32:03]So that's the reason why we're singing this morning. That's why we sing what a God because there's no other there's no other God that has done that.

[00:32:14]So just go ahead and raise your hands.

[00:32:19]And Lord, even for the first time, if we've never heard the gospel that you died for our sins, Lord, we recognize that right now as a church body pointed towards you with our hands raised.

[00:32:32]We just say thank you Lord.

[00:32:35]Thank you Lord for paying the price that was mine so that I could be in your presence.

[00:32:42]Thank you Jesus.

[00:32:45]You saved my life. We sing it again. If the highest place If the highest place I reaches at your feet, then I've done it all. If the best thing that I've seen is your glory, then I've seen it all. Your love has saved my life. Forever satisfied. God, you are my everything.

[00:33:13]If one word, oh, if one word is the only thing you speak, then I've heard it all.

[00:33:20]If I feel your heart and never see your hand, I still have it all. No treasure of this life could ever satisfy. God, you are my singing it. God, you are you are my everything. God, you are you are my singing.

[00:33:50]You are you are my you are everything.

[00:34:26]What a God. What a God.

[00:34:29]We sing. We sing.

[00:34:32]What a God. What a God.

[00:34:37]>> You know, there's this really beautiful thing that happens when we're in worship. There's something about when we come before the Lord and we put ourselves low, he has a way of lifting us higher. Come on. Do you feel in the room today that the Lord is elevating us? He's taking us higher. Higher thoughts, things that that would once try to crush us have now God has touched and now he's elevating it with us. So, there's moments like this, this atmosphere that's created. The Lord begins to speak. I invited Stacy up here because the Lord is speaking to him for the rest of the church. So, let's listen up.

[00:35:15]>> Me and my wife were reading in 1 Chronicles the other night um 21 talks about three men, man of God and Gad.

[00:35:24]Talks about the king David and then a laborer by the name of Aronus.

[00:35:29]It says that the the man of God heard a word from the Lord to go and tell the king to to build an altar. So the king, it says, being obedient to the word that he received from from God, he went to a man and he said, "I'm here to build an altar." God said, "Come to altar on your threshing floor." And it says that that when Aronus looked and saw the angel and saw the king coming that he got down on the ground and that he bowed his face to the ground in reverence to the king and he said, "Take it all, God. Take it all.

[00:36:02]Do whatever you want." He said, "You can have it." He said, "The ox is for the sacrifice." He said, "I give you the the wooden handles of my tools for your fire." Said, "I give you my threshing floor FOR YOUR ALTAR. DO IT ALL. I ASK YOU, CHURCH, WOULD YOU JOIN ME? I RUN WITH A BAND OF BROTHERS WHO HAVE SACRIFICED IT ALL." And there's a fire.

[00:36:19]The next THING THAT WOULD COME IS FIRE WOULD COME FROM HEAVEN AND BURN UP THE SACRIFICE. WOULD YOU LIVE WITH AN allin abandoned to God?

[00:36:30]Come on, just extend your hands in front in front of you like this. Come on. on the hand. When we extend our hands to God, yeah, it means surrender, but it also means God, you are greater than the work of my hands. At the work of my hands, I'm now submitted to you. And so, God, we pause in this moment. We submit our hands to you, God. Whatever you want to use, use. However you want to to to move us, God, would you move? And so, God, we come with an abandonment before you that we give our hands to you. Come on, just say that in your own heart.

[00:37:03]Father, I give my hands to you. Come on.

[00:37:05]Will you go into your families? Will you go into the workplace? Would you go into your schools? Would you go into the groceries? Where would you go? And would the Lord be able to use your hands? So God, we submit our hands to you. We pray this in Jesus name. And we all said together. Amen. Amen.

[00:37:26]Yeah. You guys can give it up one more time.

[00:37:33]in this really uh sweet atmosphere.

[00:37:35]We're going to do a couple things. We're going to pray for a couple groups of people. The first group of people I want to pray for, as you guys know, this is Memorial Day weekend. And here at the church, we elevate sacrifice and love.

[00:37:50]Um that is what Jesus has shown us. He sacrificed his love, his life for the love that he had for his people. And I can't think of anything that depicts that more than those who have laid their lives down for our country. Those who have laid their lives down in a very real way. And so today is Memorial Day where we celebrate and we memorialize and we thank those who have uh died in service, those who have given their life in service. And so what I want to do is I want to pray for those families that have been impacted and affected uh by those those types of situations. And so if you have a family member, if you know somebody that that was in war, that was in the service that that passed away while they were serving, what I would love for you to do is if you could move your way out into the aisle. Can we do that? So if you're if someone needs to get by and make sure you let them by, but just move out into the aisle so we can recognize you. That's always a little easier when we're all standing together. But just move out in the aisle. And what I would like to do is like I would love to pray a prayer of blessing over you. In Numbers chapter 6, there is a priestly blessing and I'm going to pray this prayer. Okay? I assume that those who need to stand in the aisle are standing there. And so, if you see someone around you, just extend your hands towards them. We're going to bless these families. And so, it says this in Numbers 6 24. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord cause his face to shine upon you and to be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance toward you and give you peace. And so, Father, we pause in this moment. We ask God, would you bless, Father, the families that have have been impacted? I'm reminded of Jesus's words that says there's no greater love than those who would lay down their lives for their friends. And so, God, we thank you, God, for the sacrifice that was made for the sake of freedom. the same sacrifice. God, you you sacrificed your life for freedom. And so we thank you, God, that there are people, Father, following suit. And so, God, we bless these families. And God, we pray that the the sacrifice they made, Father, that they would receive a double blessing back. And so, we bless them in the name of Jesus. And together, we all said, "Amen." Amen. Amen.

[00:40:08]Sorry guys, you guys can't sit yet.

[00:40:10]We're going to do one more blessing. I'm going to invite uh Maria up who is our children's ministry director. This is graduation season and so we have a bunch of graduations going on. We also call this Sunday our move up Sunday and Maria will explain a little bit more about that. But once again, the best way to do it while we're all standing because if I have you guys sit, then you're going to groan when I tell you to greet one another. And I don't want that to happen. And so if you're graduating this year, if it's from college, if it's from a trade school, if it's from junior high school, high school, would you guys just once again step out into the aisle and we're going to bless you guys.

[00:40:47]>> Don't be shy, guys. Step out into the aisle. And can we just extend our hands over to them? Parents, if it's your baby, put your hand over them. Um, and let's just pray for them. Let's let them feel just their church community come around them. My God, we just thank you, Lord. We come before you with grateful hearts, Lord Jesus. As we celebrate every single graduate here today, Lord, as they step into this new season, remind them that their identity is found in being deeply loved and chosen by you, my God. Help them walk confidently knowing that they are created with purpose and that you have good plans for their lives. We pray for protection um over their minds and hearts and identity, Lord. Would you guard them from fear or discouragement, Lord? Give them wisdom and direction when things feel uncertain, my God. And we just lift up every single parent and family here.

[00:41:46]um whoever may be feeling anxious or afraid or fearful, Lord, um during this time of transition, especially those saying goodbye to their seniors, my God, and those parents that are saying goodbye um uh to their college students, Lord, um as their children step into new opportunities, bring peace to their hearts and remind them that you go before their children every step of the way, my God. And we just praise you and we thank you, Lord. Um and so for um our fifth and sixth graders who are in pre-teen ministry now you guys are here with us. So can we just do a quick blessing for these um kiddos who are just going to be ministered in a new way. Um Pastor Tyler just had the heart to say this is a generation that just needs to be ministered to in a different way and it's super sweet what he has across the street for them. Um, so let's just put our hands over them and pray for this ministry that it would be fruitful. Um, my God, we just thank you for even just providing the funds for this ministry to be there in our church.

[00:42:53]Lord, we ask that it would be fruitful, Lord. We pray for the children in that ministry, Lord, to just um continue to explore um who they are in you, my God, and who you are, Lord Jesus. I pray that just good things would come out of them.

[00:43:09]We bless every single person that has said yes to teaching them, Lord. Um, and we just praise you for all the wonderful things you're doing here at our church in Jesus' name. Amen.

[00:43:20]>> So, quick dismissal, guys. If you're in fifth and sixth grade, this is our new uh uh pre-teen ministry. You're going to meet Miss Maria out in the lobby and she's going to take you guys to where you need to go and she'll be out there.

[00:43:33]So, fifth and sixth, go ahead and go out. Junior high and high school, you guys are also dismissed. try not to run over each other and hurt and step on all the things you guys are dismissed. Um, if you're thinking this morning, man, we've prayed a lot. Well, welcome. We're a house of prayer and it's not we're not going to stop praying. So, we'll pray again. But in between, you guys can go ahead and greet one another and be seated. But greet one another, say hello, give somebody a compliment.

[00:44:17]As you guys are seated, I want to just mention really quick, last week we had our annual serve day. And serve day is when we get to team up with other churches in the community. We had about 250 people in the midst of that. And I want to show you guys a quick video that we put together just so you guys can see what serve day look like. So go ahead and look at the screens.

[00:44:52]Heat. Heat.

[00:45:14]Heat.

[00:45:27]Heat.

[00:45:48]Yeah, that's worth an applause for sure.

[00:45:51]I'm so thankful. I I know that the video said thank you, but I just want to say thank you as the missions and outreach department. I just want to say thank you guys for coming out. As you guys saw on some of those statistics over there, we had 14 people. And I would say probably a little bit more, but just 14 that we captured um the the the stats on. But 14 people accepted Christ. And that's what this is the whole thing's about. Let us impact our community so that the gospel the gospel can be spread. And so thank you guys for doing that. Um one of my favorite stories from the serve day thing uh the serve day event was uh we have this team called the joy project.

[00:46:27]Essentially I give these people a bunch of money and then they get to go out and give surprise gifts within uh the community. Well, this group of girls, they got together and said, "You know what? Let's go to the the rehabilitation uh uh uh facility over on Lacy." And so, they bought a bunch of plants and they began to visit people in the different rooms and to pray over them. And what was special about that is a few days before I was talking to one of the elders of our church and he was telling me about a family that was really going through it and he just recently got put into the this this rehabilitation center and uh the the the group from Kona, the Joy Project team ended up visiting those people and I was so I was so in I was so grateful that God kind of lined all of those things up with having us have to to connect the dots. he just kind of made the pathway through that. Um, and they got to minister to that family and I was just so thankful for that. It reminds me of uh a proverb that I have today that I want to read to you guys which is going to lead us into our generosity moment. So, I want just invite the ushers to come on up and we're going to receive tithes and offerings here in a second. But, we're in the middle of our immerse reading which is we're reading through the poets and reading through Proverbs which is wisdom literature. And there's this proverb. It's very famous. It's Proverbs 3:5. And it says this, "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to him and what happens? He will make your path straight." Something about trusting God. And so, how appropriate it is before we give finances, which is a big trust, especially now in our current, well, always is a big trust. And so, I want to say this declaration with you guys.

[00:48:10]Would you guys read it with me? I have I think it's behind me. Is it behind me?

[00:48:14]Here we go. It's easy to dismiss God's ways and revert back to our own. As we give today, we remind ourselves that he is first in our lives. Whatever he wants, he can have. This includes my way. We trust you, Lord. Amen. Amen.

[00:48:32]Amen. And so, go ahead and pass up those buckets. And as you guys do, let's give a warm welcome to our fearless leader, Pastor Andrew.

[00:48:46]Well, good morning. Good morning. Good morning.

[00:48:49]Oh, awesome worship this morning. I tell you what, what a wonderful uh wonderful time already to be in in God's house. Uh in just a moment, I'm going to continue our series that we're in. Uh but before we do that, I I want to show you a few more pictures if we can. It was a big weekend this weekend for sure. And yesterday we were in Selma at our uh new future new campus there uh writing on the walls, scribbling on the walls with verses and prayers. And it just so happened that this was the moment uh that we could do it because things are moving the way that they're moving. As you know, we we have had to delay our opening target date uh for our campus in Selma because of some permits from the city and they were delaying in doing that. The permits are in. Great news.

[00:49:30]the permits are in. And so things are are are actually really starting to move very quickly. Uh and they move so fast that we had a very short window of time uh where we could write on the drywall before they went in there and textured and painted and did all those kinds of things. And so yesterday the the Selma launch team and the leaders uh of Coinia uh went over there and we wrote verses and and had a time of prayer on the campus, marched around the campus seven times and uh declared that it was the Lord's. and we're so very excited for what's going on uh and what's preparing to happen in Selma. So, if you're not aware, that is happening in the coming weeks and months. We we don't know exactly the opening date because of all the construction or the way things are working. So, we're a little hesitant just to target a date here, but we'll be telling you that soon. It's going to be uh certainly very soon. And uh we're so thrilled to uh to be able to expand our family in Quinonia uh in Quinia and in Selma and see that God's going to do some some new things and some new territory that is there. Uh like I said, we're in our a series called Wisdom for Life. And I don't know about you, but when it comes to wisdom, I need some more, right? I I need some wisdom when it comes to my finances, when it comes to my kids, when it comes to my marriage. Uh I find that uh often I do um foolish things rather than wise things. And so my question for you this morning is is how is your life going? Is your life moving in the right direction?

[00:50:56]Right? Is your heart moving in the right direction? There's something that is true about this world that we live in.

[00:51:03]This world is broken and it's corrosive.

[00:51:05]And there there's a thing that happens as we go through our life if we're not careful. our heart begins to get polluted and our life begins to get messy and before you know it, we find our life is moving in a direction that we really know we don't want to go down that road, but we're going to if we don't interrupt it, if something doesn't change, we're going to end up in a place that we really don't want to be. And and I want to build the kind of life that matters and that lasts, right? I want to build a relationship with my wife and with my kids and with my grandkids. I got a grandkid on the way, by the way.

[00:51:39]Hey, this man. Um, I I want to build a life that matters.

[00:51:44]Don't you? Right. I I want to build and leave a legacy and an inheritance to my kids of of true friendship and family and peace and unity and all and and just generosity and goodness. all the things that we know we want in our hearts, but often get robbed because we end up going down a road that ultimately destroys the very things that we want. Amen to that.

[00:52:15]And we need wisdom to do it right. We need wisdom to stay out of the rut of foolishness and destruction. I I was thinking about this. I thought about Joshua 1:8, which is a great verse to memorize. If you have not memorized scripture, I would encourage you start with this verse. Memorize it. Uh get it tattooed on yourself. Do something uh that you would remember this. This is an incredibly powerful verse about uh the way that we're going to have success in our life. What we're talking about is building a legacy. Joshua 18 says this, "Keep this book of the law always on your lips. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything that is written in it. It's talking about the word of God. Hey, remember the word of God. Remember that it is critical that you would think about it and talk about it that you would have it so much a part of yourself that you cannot help but just begin to live according to what it says. And then it says this, then you will be prosperous and successful. See, there is a way for us to live a life that matters. There is a way to live the good life, a life of success and blessing and goodness. God wants to bless your life.

[00:53:25]He wants you to to have what you need financially, relationally, emotionally, in every area and arena of your life.

[00:53:32]The key to that is to live according to the word of God. So, we've been in this series called Wisdom for Life. And as Pastor Chad said, we're reading right now in our all church reading these sections or these books of the Bible that are referred to as wisdom literature. They're the books in the Old Testament, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Song of Solomon, that are referred to as wisdom literature because they hold the collected uh wisdom and prayers of guys like King Solomon, one of the wisest men who ever lived. And they give us these principles that are so important if we want to be able to live with great success and experience blessing uh in our life. By the way, I want to encourage you to read along with us because what we're doing in this series is we are drawing the messages out of what we are reading. So, if you're not a part of of reading along with us, I want to invite you to to do that. Maybe you're new to Quinton or you just haven't jumped on the the wagon. We're reading uh out of what we call the poets right now. Uh so, we're in the book of Proverbs. This last week we read the first chapter 11 uh first 11 chapters of Proverbs. Next week, we'll read the next 10 chapters after that. And if you'd like a reading guide, you can just pick one up at guest services. They're free right there on the counter for you. Some people will not be reading with us, but we understand that's because he's crying. He doesn't want to read. Uh but the also this poets is back there if you want to pick up one of these. This is all of what we're reading in the New Living Translation.

[00:54:58]Some of you have Bibles that are difficult to read. You don't they're in a translation that you can't read or understand. And you might grab one of these. It'll help you understand as as we read what we're going through. We're talking about wisdom for life. Two weeks ago, uh Carrie and I during Mother's Day, we talked a little bit about how we can prevent the foxes from destroying the vineyard of our life. And last week, I talked about out of uh Psalms, Psalms chapter 77, how to overcome a difficult day, I want to encourage you if you were not here last week and particularly if you're going through a challenging time in your life right now, that's an a powerful message that'll help you understand how to how to live with success through a challenging day. Today I want to talk to you about wisdom and foolishness and we're going to be reading Proverbs chapter 9. So if you brought your Bible, I encourage you to open up to Proverbs chapter 9. You can do that on your uh on your phone. You can do that uh in your physical Bible if you brought that. Uh sometimes it's nice to have I would encourage you if you don't have a good paper Bible. I want to encourage you to get one because there's something that you often get uh in the physical that that you don't get in the digital uh when it comes to being able to see the entire chapter to be able to write some notes on it. This becomes a living record of the things that God is speaking to you. Uh and and so, you know, I I don't knock phone Bibles.

[00:56:16]Thank God what a great gift it is to have so many different translations readily available on my phone. But I want to encourage you to get one of these if you don't uh and bring it to church uh because you'll you'll find uh that you'll see a little bit more and you can write in it with a pencil or with a pen even uh and begin to write down the things that God is speaking to you and it'll be a blessing uh to you.

[00:56:36]Proverbs chapter nine really is the conclusion of an introduction uh in the book of of Proverbs. The book of Proverbs written by uh the by Solomon, King Solomon. And it's a collection of uh most of it is a collection of wise or pathy sayings that we we quote a lot, right? There's proverbs like hey uh be careful that you are not too loud in the morning because your neighbors will hate you. I mean that's just great wisdom, right? I mean there there's one there that says uh if you want to have friends, try and be friendly for a change, right? I mean some very basic, very important truths that are found in the book of Proverbs. There's 31 chapters to the book of Proverbs. It's not very long, but you'll find, man, as you begin to read Proverbs, it is so rich with such insight into practical living and godly living and how we can live a life of success uh every day of our lives. One of the things that you can do because there's 31 chapters, it's a great reading plan. You can read one chapter a day of Proverbs uh and you'll always find you'll have the right you'll know exactly what to read because if it's the ninth day of the month, you read the ninth chapter and you'll never be out of sync. Uh and these first nine chapters are serve as a kind of introduction to the rest of the book. Uh the whole book tells us so much about friendships and how to have healthy friendships. It tells us about money and finances about your work life. It talks about our sex life. Talks about marriage. Uh it talks about raising children and how to raise children. Uh leadership principles. There's so much that is in Proverbs. It will enrich you.

[00:58:15]But I will say that it takes a little time. You've got to chew on it. It's not always immediately apparent how to apply these things. It makes you think just a little bit. Actually, that's one of the reasons I like Proverbs is because the way that that often Solomon says things, it it makes you pause just for a moment and think, how does that apply to my life? And as you do that, you find there's such depth that is there. And as I said in the first nine chapters, uh he's beginning to to make this argument about wisdom and the nature of wisdom, where it comes from, how to get it, and and also the opposite of wisdom. And the proverbs assumes when you come to the book of Proverbs, it assumes that the world has been created by God in such a way that it operates according to the principles that he has put into place in the universe. And so if you live according to godly principles, if you live according to wisdom and wise principles in your life, what are what's going to happen in your life is your life is going to begin to align with heaven and the way that the God has wayd has set up the universe and you begin to experience blessing and success because you are living in a certain way. By contrast, if you begin to live by foolish principles in your life, you'll discover that you don't ever have enough money, that your relationships are always blowing up, right? And that many times you just end up in a place you don't want to be. And why is it? Well, it's not because it's not only we love to blame the enemy for everything, don't we? I'd love to blame the devil for for it all, right? But the truth is is that many times we don't know how to live wisely. We don't know how to line our lives according to the scripture. And as we begin to do that, what we find is on the whole, we begin to have victory and success in different areas of our life.

[01:00:02]For example, uh wisdom says this to Andrew and we said it to you if you're married as well. Wisdom says to every husband that if uh if you make a mistake, the quickest thing and the smartest thing to do is to say a very heartfelt and well done apology to your wife right then. and not to do what foolishness says, which is try to explain why you said the thing that was stupid that you know you shouldn't have said, but you want to explain the tone that you used and the words that you used had exactly the right tone and the right words for what I wanted to mean.

[01:00:38]And the moment that you begin to explain that, you know what? You're an idiot.

[01:00:43]>> You're being foolish. You're being foolish. Right? But I wisdom says, "Hey, just just apologize. I'm sorry, babe."

[01:00:52]And you'll save yourself a lot of pain.

[01:00:54]But oh man, I want to explain. Don't you want to explain? Don't you want to just begin to tell and reason all those?

[01:01:00]Wisdom says, Andrew, "Hey, you're no longer 25 years old. Your body no longer recovers the same way that it did when you were 25 years old. So don't overdo it. Be smart about what you do." But what foolishness says is is like, "Hey man, I'm a physical specimen." Like that might apply to some other people, but the fact is is for me, I'm the exception to the rule. Well, the truth is is that's foolish. That's foolish. And wisdom and foolishness is essentially what Solomon is talking about. And the choice and choosing between the two of these is all what we see in these first chapters. And chapter nine is like the conclusion of this introductory section of the book. And what I'd like to do is I'd like to chop it up with you a little bit and even sort of talk to you about how to study the Proverbs and how we might dig a little bit deeper. Sometimes it requires when we come to the word of God, it requires us to slow down and to begin to dig a little bit. Not everything that you find on the surface, right, is is is is all that's there.

[01:02:03]There's something that's deeper in the word of God and it requires us to dig to a deeper level. So, I'm going to read Proverbs chapter 9, the whole thing, and then begin to to explain it to you about wisdom and foolishness. Are you there in your Bible? It'll be on the screens as well. I'm reading the in the English Standard Version. It says this, "Wisdom has built her house. She has carved its seven columns. She has prepared a great banquet, mixed the wines, and set the table. She has sent her servants to invite everyone to come. She calls out from the heights overlooking the city.

[01:02:35]Come in with me, she urges the simple.

[01:02:37]To those who lack good judgment, she says, "Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your sinful ways behind and begin to live. Learn to use good judgment. Anyone, verse 7, who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return. Anyone who corrects the wicked will get hurt. So don't bother correcting mockers. They will only hate you. But correct the wise and they will love you. Instruct the wise and they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous and they will learn even more. Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom.

[01:03:13]Knowledge of the holy one results in good judgment. Wisdom will multiply your days and add years to your life. If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit. If you scorn wisdom, you will be the one to suffer. Verse 13. The woman named Folly is brash. She is ignorant and doesn't know it. She sits in her doorway on the heights overlooking the city. She calls out to men going by who are minding their own business. "Come in with me," she urges the simple. To those who lack good judgment, she says, "Stolen water is refreshing. Food eaten in secret tastes the best. But little do they know that the dead are there. Her guests are in the depths of the grave."

[01:03:57]Just bow your head with me for just a moment. Lord, as we uh open your word today, I just ask that you would open our spiritual eyes and ears to see and hear what you have for us this morning.

[01:04:10]God, I'm asking that that it would not just be human wisdom. It would not just be moral principles that are shared today, but it would be divine revelation that would come from your word. Lord, we're asking that your Holy Spirit would impact us right now. God, that you'd speak to us, that you would invade even the way that we're thinking. That you confront, Lord, some things perhaps that are in our heart, in our mind, in our behavior that are out of line with you.

[01:04:34]Lord, we don't want to live foolishly.

[01:04:36]We want to live wisely. We want to live lives of blessing and success. So Lord, would you help us today understand and know and obey what your word says? We pray in Jesus name. If you agree with that, would you say amen?

[01:04:47]>> Amen.

[01:04:48]>> I'm going to talk to you about wisdom and folly. And as I said, the the the chapter, if you're looking at it on in your Bible, you you might actually be able to see this. You might be able to see it on on your phone as well, but there there's actually divisions in the chapter. There's there's this this really falls into three sections. Uh if you look in your Bible, there's a a break, at least in mine, after the first six verses, and then there's a break after the second six verses. So this this really falls I would call it into two halves with a middle section is is the way uh that that this lays out I think. Uh and and what you have uh in the first half and the second half is a contrast uh between these two uh these two images. And in the middle what we have is is we have a kind of a little mini teaching on the wise man and the scoffer. And and the truth is is the middle gives an explanation and a key to the to understanding the first and the second half. And so I just kind of want to walk through that with you if that's right. So if you're taking notes, this is a good notetaker one. You some of you would like to really kind of nerd out on the scripture. So this this this will just make you really happy. Uh a and so the the I want to look at the first the two halves of this chapter. The first half, the first six verses and the second half are are really contrasting through a literary device that's often used in Proverbs called parallelism.

[01:06:13]There there are two parallels that that we see. And what we see here is we see two women and two houses. We see two invitations that are given, two banquetss that are set or two parties that are thrown and then ultimately two results that come uh when we visit uh those banquetss. All right. And so I just want to work through those with you quickly to look at that contrast. First of all, let's just talk about the two women in the two houses. Now, what the author is doing here is that he is personifying wisdom and foolishness or folly. And so we're not talking about two literal women. We're simply talking about uh two ideals that are present in the world today. Uh and and he uses right the the the the imagery of of women, but there what they really are is two ways of living. two ways that are offered to us every day of our life to to e we can either live wisely or we can live foolishly. So the first one is named wisdom. We see that in the first six verses and then the last six verses we see this person named folly. We see the house of each described a little bit.

[01:07:21]The house of wisdom is described as being strong and secure. It says that it has seven columns. And for those of you that are kind of Bible people, you know that seven is the number of completion.

[01:07:33]God created the earth in seven days. Uh and this and so seven is a number that's associated with completeness. It's a it's associated with divine with divinity with it's kind of God's number.

[01:07:43]And so what it's saying is that uh the house that wisdom has built is a house that is totally complete. It has everything that it needs that it is strong and secure. If you visit that house, you know it's a house uh that your the roof is not going to fall down.

[01:07:58]Uh and the foundation is not going to crumble because it has been built correctly. Folly also has a house.

[01:08:05]Fley's house is in a predominant place.

[01:08:08]It's up on a high hill. In other words, it's it's probably easy to find just as wisdom seems like it's easy to find.

[01:08:16]Also, they're both both of these houses are visible and they're accessible. Uh, and it doesn't say much really about the way that Folly's house is is built other than it's in a predominant place. I I think it's probably fair to say that Folly's house from the outside looks like it's built pretty well, but it probably is like one of those houses, one of those new houses that they build these days that it looks really great at first, but once you start living in it, you realize they cut some corners, they use cheap material, and it's not really going to last for a very long time, even though it looks good on the outside. So, you have two houses of two women, and then they send out two invitations.

[01:08:55]They're both sending out invitations.

[01:08:58]Wisdom uh has, it says, sent out her servants uh to give an invitation to anyone that will listen. Right? She sends these uh these invitations out to the highest place in town. In other words, from top to bottom, the invitation of wisdom is going out to anybody that would hear. And it's interesting that she says her target, her primary target, wisdom's primary target is uh the simple. In other words, maybe the foolish. Uh verse four says, "Whoever is simple, let him turn and hear to him who lacks sense." So, we're talking about, you know, people that kind of make some dumb decisions sometimes. Anybody in that in that category? I would be in that category.

[01:09:40]Uh and and so the invitation is going out. In the same way, folly, foolishness, is also sending out an invitation. Uh her strategy is a little different. I think when it comes to wisdom strategy, it says wisdom is sending out her servants. you get a sense that wisdom's invitation perhaps is is a little bit more thought out, a little bit more formal. I would imagine a nice invitation coming in the mail that somebody has thought about and it's nicely crafted and it's given and there's something uh proper about it.

[01:10:09]But that's not Fley's style. That's not foolishness style. Her style is loud and brash, right? Uh she's making some noise and she's seductive. There's a way in which she sort of is almost like cat calling there at the door. Uh and it's it's interesting. It says that as she makes her call, she knows nothing.

[01:10:30]Almost like she she's not thinking about the future. She's not thinking about the consequences of her actions. She's thinking about how the party is going to go down, right? She wants to party, right? So, she's sitting in the doorway of her house and she's making the call to anyone who is passing by her house.

[01:10:50]Note, her target is the same target as wisdom's target. Her target is the simple also those who lack sense. It's kind of funny if you lack sense, right?

[01:11:02]Both wisdom and folly are saying to you, "Hey, I got some advice. I got something to tell you about your money and what to do with it. I got something to tell you about your relationships in your life. I got some advice for you at work. Both wisdom and folly are talking all the time and they're making an invitation.

[01:11:21]Now, what is the invitation to? Well, they're to there are these banquetss.

[01:11:24]Each of them have prepared a table.

[01:11:27]These are the two banquetss that we see contrasted, right? Wisdom's table has food and wine. And in the same way, it seems that Folly or Foolish's table also has something uh there uh that she's offering as well. But folly's food, it seems wisdom's food says I've got mixed wine. I've got I've got, you know, food, bread that's prepared for you in the sense that man, this this is a good wholesome meal that has been laid out by wisdom. Fi's meal is not described in that way. She says about her food, the water is stolen and the bread has to be eaten in secret. You kind of think, now what's going on here? It's implying, I think, a little bit that the food something a little bit dark and exciting about what she has to offer, right? It it it's kind of entices you in a different way than the food that wisdom offers. I I imagine that wisdom's food is good and wholesome. There's broccoli along with the steak. There's greens, right, along with the proteins. But, um, sometimes that's a little boring.

[01:12:36]And folly is saying, "No, no, my food is a little bit more exciting than that, right? What I've got is not the ordinary stuff, right? Nobody wants to eat their greens usually, right? Even though they're going to produce something good, even though ultimately it's going to strengthen your body, your body needs all those vitamins and those minerals and all that kind of stuff. All the reasons why we tell our kids, go ahead and eat your veggies, eat your peas, eat your beans, right? But nobody wants to eat them because I'd rather eat sugar, right? Give me some caramelcoated candied something or other that's easy to eat. It's going to be immediately bring me some great joy. Right? It's very very exciting. She says, "Man, what I'm offering to you is a little bit maybe it's a little bit bad, but it's awfully good. It's going to taste great going down and you're going to get an immediate uh immediate sort of uh hit from it, immediate spike from it. Kind of like that Snickers bar, right? that promises you that you're gonna feel good for about 10 minutes and then afterwards you're like what have I done? All that sugar is in the system and now there is the the crash that happens afterwards.

[01:13:41]So there's two results then we see just as we see two banquetss the results are also contrast. They're also different.

[01:13:47]The result of of feasting at wisdom's table is that the simple who dine at the table of wisdom they don't stay simple.

[01:13:57]They come in not having much sense. They come in maybe not knowing what the right thing to do is. But when they dine at the table, there's a transformation that starts to happen inside of them. They begin to change their way of living and they begin to have success in their life. They leave different from the way that they came in. And blessing and success begin to flow into their lives because they're seated at the right table. By contrast, the results of sitting at Fley's foolishness's table is not life. It's actually death, right?

[01:14:28]There's no transformation that foolishness is promising. She's promising a good time. She's not promising that you're going to move from simple to wise. She's just fine with you staying simple. Right? And the promise here, at least the result here is literally the scripture says the depths of shol, which in the Old Testament means the realm of the dead. Right? It's it's in other words, you are separated from the good life when you dine at the table of foolishness. those who are uh dining there are headed for destruction.

[01:14:58]So you see what is contrasted here is really we have wisdom and we have the counterfeit of wisdom. Uh and and wisdom is available to anyone that desires it.

[01:15:09]Anyone who would listen and desire the good life. Uh the the the the Lord is saying, "Hey man, I've got it for you.

[01:15:16]I've got blessing available for you. I will help you do the right things. I will help you understand how to govern your finances. I will help you understand how to heal your relationships. I will help you understand how to to to deal with your thought life and govern your thought life. I will actually bring into your life a level of security and strength and blessing that will result in goodness. That's actually what we all want, the good life. Uh as a result, the counterfeit on the other hand, foolishness, it is imitating that warmth and hospitality. It's imitating that wonderful party and that and that banquet, but al ultimately what it's doing is it's dangling a promise of fulfillment that it can't actually keep.

[01:16:00]It's promising really a shortterm win. It's promising the shortterm, you know, the thing that feels so good when I eat it. The candied sugar deal that is so wonderful and it's so easy, but at the end all that there is is really a crash. I think about uh how my wife the other day told to me she she said was I was wandering around in the kitchen looking for something to eat. And she said, "You know, you could make something. There's plenty of things to make." And I said, "Well, I don't want to make something. I just want something to, you know, just to eat quickly, right? And so I'll if left to myself, I will grab a bag of chips. I will grab, you know, some trail mix. But, you know, it's just very painful for me to take time uh and to make a sandwich. And yet the sandwich is so much better. I mean, it's better on every kind of level. But what will Andrew do? Well, Andrew would rather just do the quick thing, the easy thing, the thing that is immediately uh gratifying rather than the thing that takes a little bit of time. Foolish, foolish, foolish. Now, the core battle between these two, wisdom and foolishness, is really about the battle of the appetites. It's really about what are you hungry for, right? Are you hungry for wisdom, or are you hungry for foolishness? Are you hungry for something that perhaps is going to include eating some greens, but will ultimately make you healthy and strong and successful and keep your teeth from rotting out and actually keep your insides looking good? Or are you hungry for something that's going to be quick and immediate gratification to give you the quick spike to just sort of be the party that makes you escape for a little while but not actually ultimately give you what you need? Question is, what are you hungry for? What are you hungry for? What what table in your life are you drawn to more frequently? Of course, I'm not talking about literal food right now, although this applies there. I'm talking simply about the decisions of your daily life. When it comes to your friendships, when it comes to your marriage, when it comes to your thought life, when it comes to your entertainment, what table do you find yourself drawn to more frequently? Where do you find yourself feasting? Right now, the hinge of the chapter, you still with me? Did I lose you? Are we are we still here together?

[01:18:22]>> Okay. Now, the hinge of the chapter is in the middle, as I said, right? There there's there's six verses in the middle that I would call uh the scoffer and the wise, right? The scoffer is someone who's making fun of wisdom. Uh who's who's a kind of, you know, a person who's more interested in having a good time and they're saying to you when you're saying, "Well, that's not very smart." They're saying, "Well, what do you know?" Right? Why don't you shut your mouth? I'm going to have a great time. Right? That's that's the scoffer.

[01:18:49]And this this middle section gives us the key for understanding ultimately how to know which table is the one that we want to dine at and and where we're going to go. I'm going to just read a couple of those verses. I won't read all six, but I'll I'll just start in verse seven just to kind of remind you where it says, "Whoever corrects or anyone who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return. Anyone who corrects the wicked will get hurt." You know, sometimes it's just not a good decision to tell someone who is determined to do the foolish thing to try to get them to stop doing the foolish thing. It's It's kind of like, you know, trying to uh, you know, stop an angry dog from biting someone by sticking your hand in his mouth. It's not It's not a good idea. And so verse eight, he says, "So don't bother correcting mockers. they will only hate you. There's some people that are just determined. They're they're not interested in wisdom, right? They're not they're not in a place in their life where they want to hear. They they're just saying to you, "I ain't hearing it." Right? I'm I'm not hearing that.

[01:20:00]They will only hate you. It says, "But correct the wise and they will love you.

[01:20:06]Instruct the wise and they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous and they will learn even more. The fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.

[01:20:20]So there's two responses to what wisdom offers. Right? And it's interesting the key distinction between how we make the decision has nothing to do with your IQ level.

[01:20:34]It does not matter how smart you are.

[01:20:37]What really matters is how humble you are. It is the key here is teachability.

[01:20:43]The scoffer is someone that rejects correction. They don't want to be told that they're doing something wrong. They hate being rebuked. I mean, ultimately, something in our flesh doesn't ever like to be rebuked, right? There's we our pride gets in there. There's all kinds of reasons. And even if we know, right, we're wrong. When someone tells us, hey, you're wrong, what do you know? Right?

[01:21:05]We just begin to reject it immediately.

[01:21:08]And we're all the scoffer is always protecting their ego. Ultimately, they're they harden themselves and give themsel even more to the foolishness, right? Because if you're dedicated in this direction, somebody tries to to help you out, you're like, "No, forget you." You even throw yourself into it even more. On the other hand, the wise person is interested in being corrected.

[01:21:32]They're grow. They realize that growth comes through instruction. They realize that they want to get truth. I mean, if you're going to be wise, you actually want someone to tell you, "Hey, that's not smart. I've got a better way for you. There's actually something better to do." But that requires you to be humble. That requires you to believe that you can be wrong and to be willing to acknowledge that in fact, you may be wrong.

[01:21:58]You're going to have to allow yourself to be corrected. And I don't know about you, does anybody in this room have a hard head? Especially when someone tries to tell you, they'll give you a little bit of correction. But if you want true wisdom, what we're going to have to be is we're going to have to be teachable and humble. We actually have to have an expectation that we are probably wrong in some areas. I want you to know there ain't nobody perfect on this stage.

[01:22:28]There isn't anybody perfect in this church, right? Like we're going to get it wrong sometimes. And what we need is we need each other and we need the wisdom of God to begin to confront us in the areas where we're just not doing it quite right. Now, I want to encourage you be nice when you correct people. You don't have to be nasty about it. But you also get to decide how you're going to respond. Sometimes, frankly, some of the the people in the church over many years I've been in the church all my life.

[01:22:59]I've grown up in the church and I have been confronted over quite a number of times in in my life. And sometimes, frankly, you all is really mean, right? Sometimes people, they just don't do it well, right? They tell you, you know, in a way that's not gracefilled.

[01:23:14]It's not kind. It's not filled with mercy. They're just saying, "Hey, Andrew, blah, blah, blah." Right? And what I want to do is we'll say to them, "Well, you know what? Blah blah blah."

[01:23:26]But what I have recognized is that even when someone tells me incorrectly, they may still be right, right? They may they might they might do it in a way that I don't like that doesn't feel good that is even wrong for them to do it in that way but they're still giving me some truth and access to a way of living that's wise that's actually confronting my foolishness and I have the opportunity to either be humble and receive it or to reject it and be the scoffer. And we are constantly being offered by the Lord in nice ways and in not so not so nice ways wisdom that would help us live our life. It reminds me of what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 7. You might remember this. And he says, "Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who builds his house on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And you know what happened happens? The waves of life begin to crash. The winds begin to blow. And if your house is built on the rock, then it will stand.

[01:24:42]And if your house is built on the sand, then it will fall. The question is, where are you building your house? Where in your life are you applying the wisdom of God? and where are you dining at foolishness at the table of foolishness?

[01:24:57]Let me just give you a couple examples and and then I'll I'll simply pray with you. Uh but I I think this is so applicable in so many different ways. I mean my guess is is that even as I've been talking, the Holy Spirit has been talking in you. It's amazes me how I can be wise in some areas of my life and be so foolish in others. or how I can be wise in this area of my life so frequently and then suddenly make such a horrible foolish decision. It's such a common thing for us to struggle with. So here's a couple of examples in your relationships. Are are you doing the foolish thing of keeping an emotional connection with someone who isn't your spouse, but you're telling yourself it's just friendship, but what you're really doing is you're flirting and you're keeping the door open. Or are maybe are you avoiding an honest conversation with your spouse or with a child and calling it keeping the peace in your house and what you're really doing is continuing to sew the seeds of foolishness in your relationship and your finances. Are you buying things just to manage your emotions? Oh boy, that's something that we deal with, right? It's retail therapy that you hide from your partner perhaps that's got you upside down, but it makes you feel better. Maybe you're carrying debt and it's it's a situation that you have stopped telling the truth about even to yourself and you're you're such an upside down way that it's you're you're just continuing to live and embrace the table of of foolishness when it comes to your entertainment, your time, and your attention. If I if if if someone were to ask you to give an account for how you have spent your screen time for the day, would you would you be embarrassed about the time that you've spent scrolling uh on Tik Tok or or looking at the Instagram reels? Or perhaps you've you've given yourself to binge watching. At the end of the day, we're tired. And so instead of resting, what we'll do is we'll just continue to to to scroll and stimulate our minds and actually put oursel into a place that's not genuine rest at all. Right? How's your how's your thought life? How are you living in your thought life? Are are you feeding at the table of of foolishness? Or are you are you allowing yourself to go in directions in your mind that you have no business going that ultimately will will create and feed an appetite that will end up in destruction? I want you to know if you're feeding at the table of of foolishness, there's consequences for that.

[01:27:24]But even beyond the consequences, the good news is there is grace and forgiveness for you today. Thank God there's grace and forgiveness for me today for all the places where I have sat at the table of foolishness and dined there and then wondered, "Oh my gosh, what have I done?" The good news is that what we're not talking about here in Proverbs is a couple of good principles that you just need to try harder to do and then you're going to have the good life. The good news is no, no, there's actually a God who is on your side, who's given you his Holy Spirit to actually enable you to be different. And he offers you grace and forgiveness when we come to him and say, "God, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for dining at the at the table of folly. I'm sorry, God. I should not I re I realize I should have done I'm in a I'm in a pit that I put myself in, God. I I might have even deserved the consequences, but Lord, would you save me? Would you forgive me? Would you give me a way out?

[01:28:25]And he's a God that that's faithful and he'll actually come and and he'll he'll not only forgive you, but he'll give you grace to actually begin to walk differently. Don't you want that in your life, man? I I want his grace to begin to change begin to change. I'm going to ask you to stand to your feet if you would. Let me just pray with you and we're going to conclude. But if you would just bow your head just very quickly right now. I just want you to let's just go before the Lord in in all seriousness. Let's just enter right into his presence and I just want you to begin to tell him you're sorry. And this is repentance where we just say, "God, I'm sorry for for dining at the table of foolishness." I don't know what area that is in your life. My guess is is that every one of us in this room has an area where we have we have ended up sneaking some meals at the wrong table.

[01:29:12]God, would you forgive us? Would you forgive us, God? We just act throw oursel on your cross today. We know that there's no way that we could ever do it right without your grace and your mercy.

[01:29:26]And so Lord, we're just asking you for forgiveness for foolishness, forgiveness, Lord, for for following the ways that have been offered to us that are not right. For for breaking, Lord, relationships, for for messing up our finances. Lord, we just agree with you, Lord, that living in a way that is not according to your word, that's actually sin. It's it's not just a it's just not just something we're deciding to do.

[01:29:50]It's actually rebellion against you.

[01:29:51]Every time we choose to sit at Fley's table, Lord, we're actually rejecting the thing that you offer to us in wisdom. So Lord, would you forgive us? I pray. Just ask him. Would just say, "Forgive me, Lord. Thank you, God, for your cross. Thank you for your blood that that covers my brokenness and my sin, but I just I acknowledge it for what it is." And now, Lord, we're just asking you for your grace, Lord. Would you give us your grace by the power of your Holy Spirit? Would you fill us, Lord, with a different kind of appetite?

[01:30:20]Would you make us hungry for wisdom?

[01:30:22]Make us hungry for the things of God.

[01:30:24]Help us, Lord, to fear you so that we would actually desire your way more than any other way. That our respect level for your word would go so deep that we would understand, Lord. That there is no better way for us to live. Now, God, I just pray for your people even right now. I just pray that in the name of Jesus, Lord, that they would wake up in moments. Wake us up, Lord, in moments when we find oursel at the table of foolishness that we we would see where we're at and we would run in the other direction. Lord, give us your grace and enabling power to walk in a different and new way. Lord, I pray for these people that these people would be filled with your spirit that they'd be hungry for the things of God. That they would actually run hard after you, Lord. That they would find wisdom in every area of their life. Give them ears to hear. Give them eyes to see. I pray in Jesus mighty name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. We invite the prayer teams to come forward. If you like prayer today, we'd love to pray for you. Going to dismiss you. God bless you. If you don't have a relationship with Jesus, come on down. Love you guys.

[01:31:32]Now go and be wise now. Stay away from that table of folly.

[01:32:02]compromising.

[01:32:17]Yes.

[01:32:34]I guess I'll I just I just I didn't see I don't know.

[01:40:56]Heat. Heat.