How do you cross a stream? Hopping from stone to stone is a way. God can show us how to walk with circumspection. Learn to have good friends, to hear right things, to read our Bibles.
(Proverbs 4:26; Ephesians 5:14-15; 2 Peter 1:4-8)

Speaker: Thomas Schaller
Sermon 12733
Date: 2024-06-09
Time: Sun 6:30 PM

P. Schaller –

These nights are sweet, aren’t they? I like it a lot. Young people. Also, I think Pastor Raj and Lizzie and P. Brian,
they’ve organized like hot dogs after. Bean toss I think and some games out in the parking lot
for adults. And children and really it’s sweet.

So, let’s go to the short message here or a message that’s for young people and old. All of us.
It’s Proverbs 4:26. (Prayer). By the way, the morning messages were awesome. We had a very good
time. The anointing of God in our church is really profound and the wedding yesterday was just
awesome with a lot of young people. A lot of young people who are following Christ who are
our children and grandchildren and what an honor that is.

Look at this verse with me. Proverbs 4:26, it is the beginning of summer and so what is going to
happen this summer in your life? Are you kind of going to shut down and just let life happen or
are you going to ponder the path of your feet? Are you going to have an intentional summer or
make decisions about your time and how you utilize it and about some things maybe that you
want to get done? Or maybe some things that you want to avoid. Ponder the path of your feet.
Isn’t it a good verse?

Look at Proverbs 4:26 again. Ponder the path of your feet. How many of you cross a stream and
you kind of jump from stone to stone? How about it? Have you ever slipped off a stone? Oh
yeah. Oh yeah. Have you ever just given up on the whole stone idea and just cross in the water?
I mean how do you cross a stream and how do you get there? You are looking at it and trying to
figure out how to get across.

In a way, it’s kind of like this proverb. Ponder the path of your feet. Like figure it out. Go there.
Go there. But how? Go there. That’s a good idea. Go there. So, let’s look at in our New
Testament a couple verses.

Ephesians 5:14-15, isn’t that a good summer verse? Awake thou that sleepest. Huh? Awake thou that
sleepest. Get across the stream. Have a path. Follow the path. Vs. 14. Don’t – listen. Even on a
vacation, have some purpose in your heart. Even when you say I got a block of time and it’s a
gift. I haven’t had this time but I have a block of time, but ponder the path that you want to
take ’cause you have a sense of going somewhere glorifying God. You’re on a mission. You have a
purpose. This might be the last summer for some of us. Not for the children. They have many,
many, hundreds left in front of them for God’s grace. Who knows? On a good note I want to say
wake up and Christ shall give you life. That’s what it says.

Then, vs. 15. Accurately. We have the word AKROS. Or we have the word “acrobat.” Accurate is
from that Greek word. Like walking intentionally and with a sense and I’m adding now. I’m
embellishing the verse a little bit. I got a direction and I have my life. I still am alive. I am
engaged with God. God has a calling. I’m walking in that calling from faith to faith.

Kind of from stone to stone. I want to get there. I want to go there. I have a little list of what the stones
could be and I just made it up. I just – we’re pretending we’re children tonight. No, this is
deeper, too. It is.

Wait a second. Turn to 2 Peter and we’ll see a list there if you want to really have a stronger,
biblical basis for these stones. 2 Peter 1:4 and then you have the list, vs. 5. Like intentionally add
to your faith virtue. We have a picture of somebody jumping from stone to stone. We can ask
somebody to put it up to see how it looks up there on the screen. There it is. Oh yeah. Who’s
that girl right there? I don’t know. Girl X. Just a person. What is she doing? Crossing. Ponder the
path of your feet like actually have a sense of going somewhere and if you’re an adult and you
want to have a biblical basis to this, you can go through this list. You are adults but I want to say
something to the children in a minute.

Look at vs. 5. One of them is faith. Then virtue. You add to virtue knowledge. Don’t stop
learning. Have a summer of learning. Not garbage but the good stuff. Learn theology. Learn
your Bible. Learn to think. Learn to talk. Add knowledge to your walk with God.

Then, to knowledge, temperance. Temperance means self-control. Deny yourself. Come on!
Deny yourself. Come on. Let’s say it. Deny yourself. Turn to your neighbor and just say, deny
yourself. Come on! Come on! You got to deny yourself. Put it down. Put it down. Get rid of it.
Deny. Have temperance. That’s a stone. You’re going somewhere. Ponder the path of your feet.
You just cannot live your life accidentally. You have to live your life intentionally.

And that’s what we teach children. We teach children things in their stages. You know, when
they’re three years old, they learn, you know, every three months. They’re picking up. They’re
growing. And then, they’re seven years old and that’s the different and then they’re 12 years
old and I mean, you know, I’m saying the obvious I think but it’s beautiful that everybody. All of
us.

And as we are older and we think we’ve learning everything, we suddenly one day realize we
know nothing as we ought to know. And we need to learn it all over again. And just keep going.
Look at the next one, vs. 6-7. What a good word for us. Patience this summer. Patience in the
home. Patience with your spouse. Patience in your circumstances. And then add godliness.
Godliness, brotherly kindness. Vs. 8. You’re going to bear fruit this summer. You are. You’re
going to bear fruit this summer. Yay God! Yay God! Thank you. Yay God! We’re going to bear
fruit.

We’re going to be kind. We’re going to learn to be patient. We’re going to be nice people. Turn
to your neighbor and just say, would you be a nice person this summer? Could you work on
that? Be a nice person by grace. Be nice. Be kind. Be patient. Be godly. Be thankful. Be Spirit
filled. Intentionally ponder your path. How you’re walking and how you’re going. Okay.

Have you ever done the stream thing like this? You take a running leap? You just run and you
take off and you land in the middle? Splash! What, what? Does it matter anymore? I’m soaking
wet. Where do we have our picture? Let’s go back to our picture there. We’re finishing up here
in a minute.

There she goes. Do you think she’s going to make it? yeah, she is ’cause she’s in the Body of Christ.
She’s one of us. Yeah. You think she’s going to slip off a rock? Yeah, maybe but what will she
do? Get back up. How about seven times? Get back up and finish. Okay.

Another thing about it is when I look at the summer prayerfully with the Lord and faith, do I just
want my summer to be comfortable for me or could I have faith? Could I actually bring it to God
and say, God, lead me this summer. Guide me this summer. Help me this summer and teach
me. and I don’t want to just live on the natural. I want to hit those rocks, you know. I want to go
on purpose. So, I got to ponder the path that I take.

‘Cause maybe my summer might have something to do with what my life looks like in the fall and
or the winter. And it might be that my winter will have something to do with how we go, how
we end up. Where do we end up? Don’t quit. Don’t back off, you know. Okay.

So, to the children I want to say to them a couple things about the stones. I’m talking to these
young ones that were standing up here. You’re a young person. Have good friends. Have good
friends. #2. Listen to good things. Listen to good things. Listen to your mom and dad. Listen to
good things on your technology and stuff and look at good things. Go to church. Learn your
Bible little by little. Learn a Bible story, one every week through the summer. Enjoy your life as
a child. A happy childhood. Wow! Beautiful blessing if we can have one.

If we can’t, God is gracious. Find a stone that you need to land on. And God will be with you.
God will help you enjoy your life. Be forgiving in your family. If you have a brother, forgive him.
If you have a sister, learn to forgive them. Love them. Love your sisters and brothers, your mom
and dad. Love your friends. Learn to forgive. And then, be thankful.

Mom and dad, let’s teach our kids to be thankful. Don’t complain. Don’t raise kids that
complain about everything. Don’t shelter them from trouble. Let them engage in the trouble.
Mom, I slipped off the rock. Yeah, but you got to, got to learn how to forgive and you got to go
through your trouble and it’s okay. You’re growing up and maturing cuz one day you’re going to
be president of the United States or you’re going to be a pastor or a missionary. Cuz one day
people are going to need you to be a mature person.

So, your trouble, when the lawnmower breaks, yeah. Uh-oh. When your toys are broken, when
your sister hurts you or your brother, that’s part of life. As a child – it’s difficult for me to say
these things. Not really but would you put yourself in my shoes right now?! Okay. Listen.

I love kids. We all love kids. I got a quote from Abraham Lincoln actually. “No man stands taller
than when he stoops to help a child.” Whoa! Abraham Lincoln. Yeah. That’s beautiful. Children
are a gift. Children are important. Families are precious. We are building them. They are
precious to God. Precious to us. It takes a lot of grace.

Let’s go back and end with this picture again. Look at the stones. Ponder the path of your feet.
You’re on a good path. Walk accurately and teach your family how to live and walk. You’re
doing a great job. God is with us. Our country needs these kinds of meetings. Our families need
help. We all need it. And raising a family is a big thing but a healthy church helps a lot.
A loving, praying, Spirit-filled, healthy, happy, joyful, engaging, missionary-minded, self-
sacrificial laid down life type of church is the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Our
kids are catching it and they understand it a little bit.

Frederick Douglas said, “It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” Good
statement. It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. Amen. Would you
pray with me.

 

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