Proverbs. It is a book that is both eminently familiar and overwhelmingly foreign.
While individual verses come to mind, verses like, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding . . .” (Proverbs 3:5), I suspect most of us have not considered the book as a whole. What is the message of Proverbs? How should we read it? Is it just list of helpful tips for living? Or does it reveal to us the very wisdom of God? How should we study a book that holds so many disparate words of wisdom? And is it possible to preach the book verse-by-verse?
On Sunday we will begin to answer some of these questions, as we enter a new sermon series. From now until Fall, we will spend the summer focusing on Proverbs 1–9. What is sometimes called the Prologue to the Proverbs, we will consider the wisdom that God has for us in these chapters. Tackling topics like sex, money, righteousness, relationships, parenting, and work, we will discover what God’s wisdom looks like and how we all can grow in wisdom.
To prepare for Sunday, please read Proverbs 1 as well as our introductory blog post. Let us pray that God gives us wisdom and conforms us into the image of Christ through our study of Proverbs 1–9. Sunday, we will begin by looking at Proverbs 1:1–7. May the Lord teach us to fear him and to walk in his ways.
For His Glory and your joy,
Pastor David
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Discussion & Response Questions for Proverbs 1:1-7
1. As you come to the book of Proverbs, what are your general impressions of the book? How have you read it? How has it informed your Christian life?
2. Who wrote the book of Proverbs? And why does that matter?
3. Who is Proverbs is for? How should we read it?
4. Who are the two audiences that we find in verses 1:3–6? And how does knowing those two audiences inform our reading?
5. What is the fear of the Lord? And how do we grow in the fear of the Lord?
6. How does this book apply to the original audience? To Christ? And to us?
7. How does knowing the various stages of interpretation help us resolve problems in the text?
8. After studying the first seven verses of the book, how might your approach change to the book of Proverbs?
9. What are you most excited about / interested in as we begin this new sermon series?
1. Growing Up in the Fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:1-7)
July 4, 2021 • David Schrock • Proverbs 1:1–7
10. Selection Sunday (Proverbs 9)
September 5, 2021 • Dave Ross • Proverbs 9
Selection Sunday arrives every March, and sports fans eagerly fill out their college basketball brackets to try to pick the winners. In the history of what has become known as March Madness, no one has ever selected every winner of every NCAA tournament game. This Sunday, our destination is Proverbs 9, which provides our own Selection Sunday. We see selections to accept an invitation to competing feasts, and invitations are extended to both. Which bracket will you choose? One invitation is to folly. The other invitation is to wisdom. Easy selection? Which invitation does our deceitful heart wish to accept? Which does the world that surrounds us urge us to grasp? May the fear and admonition of the Lord, through His grace and mercy, empower our welcoming of the invitation to wisdom. That invitation leads us to Christ and his wisdom, and a banquet that is beautiful and eternal. In preparation for our service this Sunday morning, outdoors at 8:30 am, read Proverbs 9. Invite neighbors, friends and family to come to OBC with you so they may also hear the Word of the Lord and the invitation to wisdom and Christ’s banquet. And pray for your OBC family and our time together. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Discussion & Response Questions for Proverbs 9 1. Look at how Proverbs 9 is organized with two contrasting feasts and hostesses. Wisdom offers invitations to her feast (vv. 1-6), and Folly offers hers (vv. 13-18). What is central to this text, and why is that significant (vv. 7-12)? 2. Compare and contrast Wisdom (vv. 1-6) and Folly (vv. 13-18). What is similar and dissimilar? a. What is laid out for the guests? How is this different between feasts? b. What does each feast ultimately provide? c. Notice how the same group (the simple) are receiving both invitations. What does this reveal? d. What is noteworthy between the two invitations (vv. 4-6, 16-18)? e. How is this invitation communicated? What strategies are employed? 3. How does the center of this chapter (vv. 7-12) instruct us? What is the end of the scoffer and the wise? 4. Do you reprove/correct/instruct others? If so, how do you see this played out? (vv. 7-9) 5. How can one who is simple or a scoffer come to the fear of the LORD and knowledge of the Holy? How should we understand this in light of the gospel? 6. Consider the world’s macabre feast, and the feast that Christ offers us as He invites us to eat and drink of Himself. How should we respond?
8. A Simpleton, A Seductress, and a Ship of Fools (Proverbs 6:20-7:27)
August 22, 2021 • Rod Fillinger • Proverbs 6:20–35, Proverbs 7
1967 – The Summer of Love. The Beatles sang “All You Need is Love,” while the Mamas and the Papas sang their international hit “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair).” The Summer of Love was a time when “free sex,” drugs, and lots of rock ’n’ roll — the more mind-bending and psychedelic the better — fueled an idealistic Utopian vision for world peace, love, and anti-materialism. It was a time when Harvard University professor-turned-LSD-guru Timothy Leary urged disaffected young people to question authority, reject straight society and “turn on, tune in and drop out.” It has blossomed in the first quarter of the 21st century into the cult of the modern self. Your identity is what you determine it to be. Gender is fluid. Sex is no longer confined to an intimate marriage relationship between a (biological) man and a (biological) woman. Authority is rejected as authoritarianism. Restraint and self-control are repression and oppression. As we have emphasized throughout our summer series from Proverbs 1–9, wisdom from God in his Word is not just a theory. Our Bible text this week, Proverbs 6:20–7:27, continues the theme of embracing the Word of God as the way of wisdom and life, while rejection of his authority is sin and folly and leads to death and destruction. This week we will look at another warning given to avoid sexual sin. This warning is illustrated through a parable that dramatically illustrates for us the folly of sexual immorality. We need this wisdom; we need the one who is wisdom to not be deceived by peer pressure or the culture around us. By the mercy of Christ, we can avoid being simpletons seduced by the culture or those around us to yield to the seductress. In Christ we can live a brighter, more loving, more fruitful life to the glory of God. In Christ alone, Pastor Rod ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Discussion & Response Questions for Proverbs 6:20-7:27 1. List, compare, and contrast the qualities or characteristics of the two women in chapters 6 and 7, Wisdom and the Seductress. 2. How does the teaching of Proverbs about sexual purity and marriage compare with the teachings of Paul (1 Cor. 7) and Jesus (Matt. 5:27–30)? 3. What is the role of the family in sex education? How should parents go about teaching their children about sex (see 5:1; 6:20; 7:1)? 4. How can Wisdom protect you from sexual immorality? 5. Why is Wisdom more important than a husband or wife? 6. Contrast the way in which the Bible speaks about human sexuality with the way in which sexual matters are portrayed in worldly media. 7. How does knowing you have a place in the final marriage supper of the lamb (Revelation 19:6–10) empower you to say no to sexual temptation today? Questions for Self-Examination: 8. Is what you are doing with respect to sexual thoughts and actions simply wrong? Do you sexualize or lust after people you know are forbidden? 9. Are you captivated by sex? Are you driven by it, obsessing about it? Do you find yourself acting impulsively or compulsively with respect to sex? 10. Do you hide what you are doing? Have you created a secret garden of sexual sin? Do you use sex as a refuge from boredom, stress, loneliness, or pain? 11. If you are tempted or ensnared, how will you bring these things to light? What brother in Christ (if you are a man) or sister in Christ (if you are a woman) can you confess your sin and seek their prayer and counsel?