Five Ways to Make Easter Holy

Easter is many things.

• to some it is Spring Break
• to some it is just along weekend
• to some it is just another day to have some fun with eggs and easter baskets

To us it is a HOLY DAY

How can we make Easter Holy?

1. We Worship
   1. Do attend a Good Friday service - even if you believe He died on Wednesday or Thursday (the point is the remembrance of the event and not the time frame.
   2. Do attend Easter services - sing and worship and celebrate.
2. We Dress-up
   1. We dress-up for many things:
      1. Weddings
      2. Funerals
      3. Dates
      4. Homecomings
      5. Job interviews
   2. Dressing-up is a way to celebrate
   3. Dressing-up is a way to make something special
3. We Talk
   1. Use the event as a chance to slow down and visit
   2. Read the Story
   3. Remind yourself and your kdis of the reason for the celebration
4. We Eat
   1. Feasting is a Biblical, historical, and cultural way to celebrate
   2. Jesus ate with His disciples (apostles) just prior to his death and again after His resurrection.
5. We Serve
   1. Jesus served His apostles by preparing a meal, eating with them, and sharing a very intimate conversation and time with them.
   2. He established an ordinance
      1. He established a tradition
         1. It is a good thing when families have traditions - especially those that surround our faith.
   3. He washed their feet and taught them the importance of serving others.

Be involved in your church by serving.

Remember that Jesus really did die for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day.

Have you trusted in Him to be your God and Savior?

Have you been born again through Him?

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.

For whoever will call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Jesus Himself borew our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed.

For Christ has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.

For God made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Bethlie and I wish you a happy Easter week and we hope that you too will make Easter Holy!

Overcoming Adultery

Confess it

Confront the lies

Accept the consequences

• Accept the ramifications
• Accept the rebuke

Acquire help

• Begin the painful and arduous process of rebuilding

1. 1. Your Purity
   2. Your Relationships
   3. Your Reputation

It Takes To To Build proof

1. Of your desire to change
2. Of the steps you are taking to change
3. Of the direction you are going

Proverbs 7:6-27

Solomon Gives An Illustration

A young man lacking wisdom

He is a young man -

Bewafre of Youthful Lusts

• Youthful Lusts Will Rob Us of God’s Best
• Damage our thinking and point us in a wrong direction
• Build a weak foundation for our future

Flee Youthful Lusts

• Fight and fortify purity

He was void of understanding

1. Not taught
2. Not principled
3. Not prepared for what was about to happen to him

He had bad company

1. Among the simple - among the youths
2. Jesus who was meeting with the older and wiser

He had nothing to do

1. Laziness and idleness are always an opportunity for failure
2. Sodom - abundance of idleness

He was out in the night when he should have been resting from a days work

He chose the way to her house

• Choices matter

A  married lady who is wicked - she is the leader

1. Her dress - She is dressed inappropriately verse 10
   1. Dress does matter
   2. Our bodies belong to God and to our spouse
   3. Keep your clothes full and flowing
      1. Illustration of an advertisement for “stretchy pants/yoga pants”.
      2. The commercial said “comfortable” but showed “sexy’ and “sensual”
      3. One can dress unwisely and not be aware of it; God’s Word calls us to be aware of it and dress wisely . . .
2. Her deportment - She is loud verse 11
   1. Peter said a Godly lady has a “meek” and “quiet” spirit
   2. She is flirty, but not with her husband verse 13
3. Her place - She refuses to embrace her role and responsiblity vs 11-12
   1. She is not being a “keeper at home” while her husband is away
4. Her lies
   1. She professed to be religious about it
   2. She called it love - it was not; it was lust
   3. She considered it
5. Her promises - She promises something she can’t give verse 14, 18

A glimpse of the results of adultery

1. He goes to the slaughter
   1. It kills innocence
   2. It kills virginity
   3. It kills virtue and character
   4. It kills what might have been beautiful had he waited
   5. It kills relationships
      1. What will her husband do when he finds out
      2. What will his future wife do when she finds out
2. He is never the same
   1. This is not to say you can’t repent and do right
   2. It is to say you can’t commit adultery without it damaging you in deadly and devastating ways

The Importance of teaching and training (Proverbs 6 & 7)

Proverbs 6:20-23

We must teach and train

• Believe in it . . .

We must buy in to the teaching of the Bible

• Believe it and receive it

The Importance of truth (Proverbs 6:24)

Truth will alert you to the danger

• Her words verse 24, see also 7:21
• Your lust verse 25
• The outcome
  • It makes one less than what they should be verse 26
  • It fulfills selfish desires, not love and blessings verse 27
  • It burns the participate verse 28
    • You are going to get burned . . .

Truth will alert you to destruction

• Adultery destroys one’s soul verse 32
• Adultery leads to wounds and dishonor verse 33

Truth must be received and embraced and applied (Proverbs 7:1-5)

• Parents must train and children must receive
  • Win on both sides
  • Teens - BUY IN to the truth

Solomon gives one huge illustration (Proverbs 7:6-27)

• A young man lacking wisdom
  • He is a young man -
    • Beware of youthful lusts
      • Rob us of God’s best
      • Damage our thinking and point us in a wrong direction
      • Build a weak foundation for our future
    • Flee Youthful Lusts
      • Fight and fortify purity

Show Notes:

Proverbs 5:18-19

A reminder that marriage is wonderful and all sexual satisfaction is to be found and thoroughly enjoyed in that relationship.

Wanna have sexual relations?

• Get married and stay committed to one another all the days of your life
• 1 Corinthians 7

Our generation undermines this in many ways

• By failing to teach the truth about sexuality
• By failing to prepare our children for marriage
• By promoting worldly philosophies regarding gender

We skip ahead this episode to chapter 4.  Don't worry, Dave and Bethlie explain why at the beginning of the podcast!2

Show Notes:

We must be wise about anything that is influencing us to be wrong here

• Entertainment undermines Proverbs 4:23
• Amuse = no think

We don’t think when we are being entertained; we don’t reason and we aren’t lead to conscious decisions of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and discretion.

• Indirectly we are being told what to think and feel and choose
• That is a dangerous issue for our culture

We must be willing to limit our influence in favor of that which helps us to think

• Limit
• • Social media
  • Movies
  • Reels

• Emphasize

• • Hearing the Word of God
  • Reading the Word of God
  • Reading good books
  • Talking and visiting with other Godly believers

• • • Accountability is a good thing

• • • Availability is too

Dave & Bethlie continue the series on Proverbs.

This week they continue in Proverbs chapter 2 and discuss some sensitive topics regarding sexual activity before marriage and other issues regarding immorality. 

If you have little ones around, we suggest you pop those air buds in.

Thanks for downloading and listening!

Dave & Bethlie continue the series on Proverbs. This week they continue in Proverbs chapter 2. 

This episode discussed the issue of imorality.

Immorality is a broad word that includes everything from pornography to pre-marital sex to homosexuality to adultery.  It is anything outside of the clear boundaries set for us by God in His Word.

The point Solomon is making....

He is communicating and commanding and commending truth to his son.

We must communicate

We must command

We must commend

Solomon had a goal to convince his son to choose wisdom and apply understanding.  he want to convince his son to pursue the Lord so he will have wisdom, knowledge,, and understanding.  He wants to help his son have God's blessings.

Dave & Bethlie continue the series on Proverbs. This week they continue in Proverbs chapter 2. 

This episode gives actionable steps that parents can take in providing good influences in the lives of their children.

As teenagers they were both encouraged to read a Proverb a day.  That practice has continued into their adult lives.  In fact, Proverbs has become a cornerstone of their fmaily devotions and time for them to discuss, share ideas, and learn together.  

Take a look at the show notes below and follow along!

Find ways to provide good influences

Develop relationships that influence your kids well

• • We used Chick-fil-A
  • We used work opportunities
  • We used great books
  • We used good movies
  • We used people we know

Help your kids to find good relationships

• • With family
  • With other adults (usually in a working or training situation)
  • With other teens of your choosing

Do hard things when necessary

Dave and Bethlie continue the series on Proverbs.  This is second second in a three part series on chapter 2 of Proverbs.  As teenagers they were both encouraged to read a Proverb a day.  That practice has continued into their adult lives.  In fact, Proverbs has become a cornerstone of their fmaily devotions and time for them to discuss, share ideas, and learn together.  

Take a look at the show notes below and follow along!

Part 2

Protecting ourselves and our kids from evil influences/friends

Proverbs 2:12

The evil influence identified

v. 12 Speaks perverse things (twisted)

v. 13 Always is doing wrong

v. 14 Rejoices at things that are wicked

v. 15 Always devious and crooked

The steps that lead to protection

Teach

Teach truth v. 11. Truth is the protector from all evil. - MacArthur

Teach our kids to say NO

Teach our kids to avoid

Teach our kids to stand

Remove our kids from these influences

1. 1. Change schools if need be
   2. Withdraw our kids from sports
   3. Set some things in stone
      • No overnights
      • No alone with other teens in a car
      • No influence that makes you uneasy
      • No contacts without your approval
      • Little or no social media
      • Little or no multi-player video games