Sermon Leftovers

Stuck in a rut. No one wants this to be descriptive of their life, yet so many of us spend so much time here. We want to grow. We want to improve. Yet, we often find ourselves fighting the same battle over and over. Never really improving, just working hard to keep from slipping into the shadowy side of ourselves. Self-improvement comes in two ways: 1) We stop doing things that are bad for us. 2) We start doing things that are good for us. It really is that simple. So why do we have such a hard time identifying the things that are bad for us? And why do we have such a hard time doing the things that are good for us? Sometimes... it's because we aren't willing to listen to the right people. Proverbs 27:6 says: Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. All the people in your life fall into four categories, defined by two questions. Are they more likely to compliment you or criticize you? Do they more likely love you or love you no

Benjamin Franklin said, "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." While he may have been correct (generally speaking); I would suggest that healthy, wealthy and wise may not be the best case scenario for those who claim to follow Christ. Of course the alternative is to be sickly, poor and foolish. That doesn't sound great either. So why would I suggest you might not want to be healthy, wealthy and wise? Self-Sufficiency is a Myth. The American way has always been to pull oneself up by ones bootstraps (an impossibility, practically speaking). As a "founding father", Benjamen Franklin certainly helped to shape this piece of our social makeup. While there is much good to be considered in the ethic of hard work and self-determinism, there is also a great danger in assuming that we can somehow be the masters of our own fate. Hard work and a disciplined life will reap benefits. Those benefits will often last you your entire li