selected passages from Proverbs
October 20, 2024
preached by Pastor Doug Cooper
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you.”

~ Augustine (354-430), North African bishop, theologian, philosopher and author

“There can be no maturity in the spiritual life, no obedience in following Jesus, no wholeness in the Christian life, apart from an immersion in, and embrace of, community. I am not myself by myself.”

~ Eugene Peterson (1932-2018), American minister and writer

“You sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one’s holy Father. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and
prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.”

~ J.I. Packer (1926-present), British-born, Canadian theologian & writer

“Corporate worship is designed to cause you to run from the kingdom of self and run to the kingdom of God, to dethrone yourself and to give your life to celebrating and serving the King of Kings everywhere you are and in whatever you do.”

~ Paul Tripp (1950-present), American pastor and author

“A church community frees you from the crushing weight of self-obsession. It frees you to be part of something bigger than yourself, with people who are not like you. It frees you from the bias-confirming bubbles of only being exposed to like-minded people who always affirm but never challenge you. It frees you from the burden of being accountable only to yourself: what you believe, how you like to worship, how you interpret the Bible, how you want to live and so on. When we are the only authority on these things, it’s hard to become wise.”

~ Brett McCracken, contemporary writer, film critic and pastor

Sermon Passage

selected passages from Proverbs (ESV)

Proverbs 1:7

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

“⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Proverbs 4:20-23

“²⁰ My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. ²¹ Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. ²² For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. ²³ Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

Proverbs 6:20-22

“²⁰ My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. ²¹ Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. ²² When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.”

Proverbs 10:8

“The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin.”

Proverbs 13:20

“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”

Proverbs 20:5

“The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.”

Proverbs 21:2

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart.”

Proverbs 22:17-18

“¹⁷ Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, ¹⁸ for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.”

Proverbs 27:19

“As in water, face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.”