(sermon from past Sunday...thought my pastor's choice of title would lure in a few posters
)
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(video link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJpZ4VaMKDU)
SIX DONUTS AND THE CREAM IN THE COFFEE
I hope you're not salivating for donuts, because there aren't really any in this sermon. It's just that when I put "Six Do-Nots" on the big screen with a photo of a man pointing his finger, it seemed depressing. So I'm just calling them six donuts. Okay, seriously. Six Do-Nots, and A Promise of Favor is the real title of this sermon.
Solomon lists six things that are a definition of righteousness. Then he concludes with the "cream," a promise of God's favor and blessing on those who do those six things. The cool thing is, all six are easy enough that any of us can do them. They are, well... life-changing. From Proverbs 3 (ESV):
1. Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes,for the LORD
2. Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.
3. Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it"---when you have it with you.
4. Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you.
5. Do not contend with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm.
6. Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways.
Then Solomon offers this: "the Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous."
DO NOT miss this simple bit of wisdom from the wise Solomon. If you practice the righteousness he descriibed, you are gaining the blessing of the Lord on your household. What an incentive to strive for righteousness!
