Refuge Church

We act as though a good family life happens naturally. Like everything we hope for in marriage and parenting will fall in our lap, or that we’ll just figure it out as we go. The truth that Proverbs shows us this morning is that a wise home doesn’t happen by accident; it requires intentionality.

Proverbs 22:6; 31:10-12

What makes a great friend? Is it instant connection? Is it that you just understand each other? Is it that you work well together? Find out what the book of Proverbs has to say about a true friend!

Proverbs 18:24

Words create worlds. The words we use, and choose not to use, shape our reality for ourselves and others. There is tremendous power in the tongue, to either build up or tear down, to encourage or criticize, to dignify or dishonor. The wise use their words with discretion, to bring life and healing to others.

Proverbs 18:11

We tend to either suppress emotions or let them control us. Or swing back and forth wildly between the two. But that's not what God gave us emotions for. Instead, the book of Proverbs shows us that wisdom acknowledges and governs emotions for our own good and the good of others.

Proverbs 29:11

We live in an age of absolute overload, completely inundated with data yet starving for true direction. Decades ago, the poet T.S. Eliot beautifully anticipated this modern paradox in The Rock, asking, "Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?" He recognized that access to facts is not the same thing as the skill to live well—or as the old saying goes, “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.” Right now, our world is full of "tomatoes"; we have all the data points, but we lack the practical discernment to build a life that actually thrives.

Proverbs 4:20-27

We seek to acquire so many possessions that are inconsequential in this life and the next. Information, fame, the death of your enemies, wealth, sexual gratification, peace, ease–you name it! But God tells us the greatest possession anyone could ever have is wisdom.

Proverbs 1:1-7

Similarity breeds connection. People tend to bond with others who are like themselves. Though this is naturally the way things are, God calls his followers to something supernatural. For the follower of Jesus, love of the stranger is sacrificial worship.

Romans 12:13

We spend so much of our time and energy on bad news, when God has entrusted us with the greatest news in the world. We can hold onto hope because all the bad news in the world cannot outweigh the good news of Jesus Christ!

Acts 10:34-48

It’s scary to be a messenger of unwanted news. It’s usually bad, and so we fear the backlash. And if we give into that long enough, that fear will control us, it will cripple us, and it will eventually silence us for good…without a doubt, it’s scary to be a messenger of unwanted news but our message is built on the historical fact of Jesus’ resurrection, motivated by our personal experience of salvation, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. And that’s enough to cast out any fear in our hearts this morning, no matter how strong it may be. That’s what our text shows us this morning, as Jesus commissions his disciples…

John 20:19-23

Too often we view salvation as merely a personal choice and the Christian life as a solo endeavor. But followers of Jesus become a family, a family on God's mission to reconcile the world.

Ephesians 2:8-10