Creekside Church, Sunday, June 2, 2024
"They Were So Wise"
Locations & Times
Creekside Church
660 Conservation Dr, Waterloo, ON N2J 3Z4, Canada
Sunday 9:00 AM
Sunday 10:30 AM
Memento Mori - remember your death – remember you must die
What makes for a good life?
What kind of life are you living?
Who are you?
Who are you becoming?
Series about considering your eulogy and looking at 4 things you’ll want to have been true of you.
Today, a bit of a crash course on wisdom.
---
WHAT IS WISDOM?
Wisdom in the Bible - practical insight, discernment, and the pursuit of a flourishing life grounded in biblical principles.
Wisdom is truth applied.
Read Proverbs 8 for a full personification of wisdom and description of her as God's first works (vs. 22)
Wisdom is woven into the fabric of creation. Like a blueprint or a patter for finding life.
She is the secret to understanding how the world works.
---
WHY DO WE DO FOOLISH THINGS?
Proverbs chapter 9 describes wisdom calling out and folly calling out.
One leads to life. One leads to death.
We do foolish things because there is always another voice calling out, and it can seem wise in the moment.
Wisdom isn’t hidden, you just have to seek her.
Apparently, Proverbs knows we are prone not to seek wisdom.
To be distracted, to chase the wind, to be wooed by other sirens.
---
HOW TO BE WISE
#1 - FEAR OF THE LORD
Proverbs 9:10-12 - 10
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11 For through wisdom your days will be many,
and years will be added to your life.
12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.
The fear of the Lord = respect, reverence, constant awareness, sincere commitment to obey him. If God doesn’t have your full attention then something else does and that’s what you’ve placed above Him.
#2 - HUMILITY
Dunning-Kruger effect - A cognitive bias that states that the less we know, the more confident we are. It gives new meaning to the saying, “A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing.”
Ask others for their knowledge, insights, wisdom.
Proverbs 15:22:
Plans fail for lack of counsel,
but with many advisers they succeed.
Proverbs 13:20:
Walk with the wise and become wise,
for a companion of fools suffers harm.
Ask God for wisdom
James 1:5:
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
Solomon asks for wisdom in 1 Kings 3:8-13
#3 - CONTEMPLATE AND FOLLOW THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS
Matthew 7
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 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 sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
#4 - CONTEMPLATE THE "FOOLISH" WISDOM OF THE CROSS
The cross reveals the way of God and the way of his kingdom to be sacrificial love.
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
#5 - INTENTIONAL
What is slowly pulling you?
What are you doing with your life?
Are you living a wise life?
Are you building a wise life?
How much longer till you make some changes?
Psalm 90:12 – "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
What makes for a good life?
What kind of life are you living?
Who are you?
Who are you becoming?
Series about considering your eulogy and looking at 4 things you’ll want to have been true of you.
Today, a bit of a crash course on wisdom.
---
WHAT IS WISDOM?
Wisdom in the Bible - practical insight, discernment, and the pursuit of a flourishing life grounded in biblical principles.
Wisdom is truth applied.
Read Proverbs 8 for a full personification of wisdom and description of her as God's first works (vs. 22)
Wisdom is woven into the fabric of creation. Like a blueprint or a patter for finding life.
She is the secret to understanding how the world works.
---
WHY DO WE DO FOOLISH THINGS?
Proverbs chapter 9 describes wisdom calling out and folly calling out.
One leads to life. One leads to death.
We do foolish things because there is always another voice calling out, and it can seem wise in the moment.
Wisdom isn’t hidden, you just have to seek her.
Apparently, Proverbs knows we are prone not to seek wisdom.
To be distracted, to chase the wind, to be wooed by other sirens.
---
HOW TO BE WISE
#1 - FEAR OF THE LORD
Proverbs 9:10-12 - 10
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11 For through wisdom your days will be many,
and years will be added to your life.
12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.
The fear of the Lord = respect, reverence, constant awareness, sincere commitment to obey him. If God doesn’t have your full attention then something else does and that’s what you’ve placed above Him.
#2 - HUMILITY
Dunning-Kruger effect - A cognitive bias that states that the less we know, the more confident we are. It gives new meaning to the saying, “A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing.”
Ask others for their knowledge, insights, wisdom.
Proverbs 15:22:
Plans fail for lack of counsel,
but with many advisers they succeed.
Proverbs 13:20:
Walk with the wise and become wise,
for a companion of fools suffers harm.
Ask God for wisdom
James 1:5:
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
Solomon asks for wisdom in 1 Kings 3:8-13
#3 - CONTEMPLATE AND FOLLOW THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS
Matthew 7
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 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 sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
#4 - CONTEMPLATE THE "FOOLISH" WISDOM OF THE CROSS
The cross reveals the way of God and the way of his kingdom to be sacrificial love.
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
#5 - INTENTIONAL
What is slowly pulling you?
What are you doing with your life?
Are you living a wise life?
Are you building a wise life?
How much longer till you make some changes?
Psalm 90:12 – "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."