Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Many of you know about a new Challenge my wife Ashton and I have taken on over the last couple of months.

I want to thank all of you for your love and support for us in this season, and thank you for your generous gifts that allowed us to get the Renew House up and running.

It’s been an amazing challenge, but also a huge blessing.

We hope if you haven’t been over to use the space or hang out with us yet, that you get a chance to sometime this summer.

I really hope you get a chance to swim in the pool as well.

Speaking of the pool, there is one thing that has been a huge challenge to me and has tested my patience.

And yes, you guess it, it’s the pool.

Now the pool is great, its beautiful, its luxurious, and refreshing and I know some people have already benefited from it, which is great.

But man oh man, it’s been a lot of work and stress getting that bad boy up and running.

To be honest, all the work and stress has less to do with the condition of the pool and has more to do with my inexperience.

I have never imagined myself owning a pool.

I think pools are great, and I enjoy swimming in them, but if you were to tell me that, in order to swim in a pool, I need to be the one who maintains it, I would say back to you, “well, good think i prefer to be dry”.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely thankful for the pool, and once the pool is ready to be used regularly and is simply a maintenance project rather than I may change my mind, but it’s taken up a lot of time and caused a lot of stress.

Every time I’m out there working on the pool, I think to myself “you know what would be great?

If I had a master pool buy right next to me answering any questions I had, telling me exactly what to do, how to do it, and why I should do it that way.

“ I can do the work, that’s not a problem, it’s not knowing what to do, or how to do it that make me anxious.

Do you ever find yourself wishing you had a master, right beside you, every step of the way, telling you exactly what you need to do, how to do it perfectly, and why you ought to do it that way?

Maybe you’re starting out in the trades, you’re in your first year of an apprenticeship and you’re thinking to yourself “oh my goodness, there is so much to know, I’ll never learn it all, I can’t do this”!

Your boss is just doing his thing, moving from task to task, and you’re sitting there paralyzed thinking “am I supposed to screw this in here?

will is screw up the whole thing?

Is he gonna come by and judge me cause i’ve got no idea what I’m doing.”

Or maybe you’re a new mom, you just brought this baby home 3 months ago, and she is crying.

and you’re looking down at this beautiful living human being thinking “what in the world have I gotten myself into?

I have no idea what this baby wants, what this baby needs, I can’t ask the baby, she’s not talking to me yet.

How in the world is this child going to make it a year under my care, I can’t even care for myself” and you are thinking “If only Mrs. Duggard from 19 and counting was here right now, I would feel a lot more confident in doing this”

Or maybe you struggle with communication in your relationship.

You’re in a conflict with your partner and the more you speak, the worse it’s getting.

You are there, staring at your partner thinking “if only I had a master communicator, standing right beside me, translating everything this person is saying to me with perfect clarify, and explaining their exact motive so I can understand them completely.

I could then have the master communicator take whats on my mind and heart, translate it into the perfect sentence that will help this person understand exactly how I feel.”

At Renew, we are going into a new series called Fool Proof, it’s a summer series in the book of Proverbs.

What I’d like to do this morning is explore what a proverb is, why proverbs are useful, and what they require to work.

I want to explore how they benefit you and I, and what gives them the power to change us.

I want us to see why we should apply them, and what it takes to apply them properly.

The Goal at the end of this series is that you have some of the tools required to live a fool proof life.

So week to week I want you to think about the proverbs as being a master of life with you, along side you, at all times.

I want you to think of the proverbs as your own personal master of life who’s goal is to tell you what to do in life, how to do it, and why you should do it that way so that you too can master life.

if you have a bible, please turn to .

We’ll be reading out of the NIV today.

(READ)

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;

for understanding words of insight;

3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,

doing what is right and just and fair;

4 for giving prudence to those who are simple, d

knowledge and discretion to the young—

5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,

and let the discerning get guidance—

6 for understanding proverbs and parables,

the sayings and riddles of the wise.

i

7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,

but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

So what is a proverb?

A proverb is a wise saying for everyone, everywhere.

It’s a short expression of truth that anyone can apply at any time to any circumstance.

The book of proverbs is a book of wise sayings that King Solomon, Son of King David, from around 3,000 year ago, compiled as a means to grow personally, as well as instruct young people with.

These saying were used as a means to train younger men and women, but it wasn’t just for younger people.

In verse 5 it says it’s for anyone willing to listen and add to their learning.

Most of these proverbs weren’t written by King Solomon himself, they were wise sayings that he himself picked up from other places to add to his learning and to instruct the young.

You see, when you’re starting out a six month internship as a trades worker, you know there is a lot to learn and grow in.

And the guys who make it through and succeed are the ones who are willing to drink out of the firehose of wisdom and insight that the masters are sharing with them.

That’s kind of what it feels like when you dive into the book of proverbs for the first time as a young person.

But for those have been successful for 35 years of service in their specialized trade, know that there is always something more to learn and wisdom to be gained.

This is true in life too isn’t it?

No matter how many years we have been living on this earth, there is always wisdom to be gained in life.

We never truly master life.

So the proverbs then is a collection of wise sayings for everyone, everywhere.

But what are they for?

So the proverbs then is a collection of wise sayings for everyone, everywhere.

But what are they for?

Simply put, the proverbs are a guide to help you master life.

They exist for your benefit, they teach you, grow you, help you in all areas of life.

Simply put, the wise sayings are a guide to help you master life.

They exist for your benefit, they teach you, grow you, help you in all areas of life.

READ

2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;

for understanding words of insight;

3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,

doing what is right and just and fair;

Solomon highlights three benefits to applying the proverbs.

The first is that applying the proverbs helps us master communication.

Applying the proverbs helps you understand wise language, words of wisdom and instruction and insight and communicate with it.

Some would call this common sense.

But common sense isn’t common sense unless it’s common sense.

It takes understanding what is true and wise and insightful and intelligent to be sense, and it takes lots of people agreeing on it, to make it common.

Applying the proverbs helps you understand what others are saying and helps you communicate to them with wisdom, insight, understanding, and truth.

The proverbs have proven to help people communicate in their relationships.

Have you ever experienced a silly fight with your partner, then hours later read a helpful tip on communication and thought “Dangit!

I wish I thought of that earlier!”, or, “Ahhhh where was my master communicator when I needed them?”

With wisdom, you would have had a different outcome in your communication.

You would have spoken and listened intelligently and insightfully.

The Proverbs help you master your communication.

Applying the proverbs helps us master our lifestyles.

In 1:3a it says the proverbs exits for prudent behaviour.

They help you live a good life, a life you were meant to live.

They promote healthy lifestyles emotionally, spiritually, physically and mentally.

They will help you master your lifestyle and behaviour.

Think back to the new mom, standing there, holding her 3 month old as he cries, thinking “I have to do this for the next 18 years?