Winning Ways -- Hillcrest Baptist Church

Bumper-Sticker Wisdom
by Tom Goodman
April 15, 2009

How well do you know your proverbs? A third-grade teacher wanted to know how well her children knew them, so she gave her class the first half of a proverb and the kids had to come up with the rest. Here was what they wrote:

As you shall make your bed, so shall you... mess it up.

Better be safe than... punch a fifth grader.

Strike while the... bug is close.

It's always darkest before… daylight savings time.

You can lead a horse to water, but... how?

Don't bite the hand that... looks dirty.

An idle mind is... the best way to relax.

A penny saved is... not much.

Two's company, three's... the musketeers.

Laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and... you have to blow your nose.

Children should be seen and not... spanked or grounded.

It seems that it's part of being human to condense wisdom down to memorable one-sentence proverbs. Maybe that's why we like God's Book of Proverbs so much. This Sunday, we're going to re-discover the proverbs through a new sermon series called "Bumper-Sticker Wisdom."

Austin is a bumper-sticker-crazy town. Have you noticed this? When I first moved here six years ago, I was amazed at how many people felt I needed to know their opinion while waiting behind them in traffic! (I also concluded that our church facility is built on a "cultural fault line," because when you leave our church campus and head south, the bumper stickers get more liberal, and when you leave our church campus and head north, the bumper stickers get more conservative!)

The biblical proverbs are "bumper sticker wisdom" -- condensed down to pithy statements meant to make you smile and nod appreciatively. I think you're going to find this new sermon series through God's proverbs to be a helpful study. We begin this Sunday at 10am with, "How to Get the Good Advice You Need." Proverbs 27:17 (TEV) says, "People learn from one another, just as iron sharpens iron." We're going to look at a lot of proverbs this week to discover five ways to enlist the good advice of wise people.

By the way, you can help me prepare for this series by sending me photos of bumper stickers you see. I already have quite a collection, but pull out that cell phone, snap a photo, and e-mail it to me. I'll put some up on the screen this Sunday!

--Tom

Weblog: Check out my blog, "Get Anchored." Some things to look for...

Song of the Week, posted every Sunday.
Links to Your World, interesting and informative links, posted every Tuesday.

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Bumper-Sticker Wisdom by Tom Goodman April 15, 2009 How well do you know your proverbs? A third-grade teacher wanted to know how well her children knew them, so she gave her class the first half of a proverb and the kids had to come up with the rest. Here was what they wrote: As you shall make your bed, so shall you... mess it up. Better be safe than... punch a fifth grader. Strike while the... bug is close. It's always darkest before… daylight savings time. You can lead a horse to water, but... how? Don't bite the hand that... looks dirty. An idle mind is... the best way to relax. A penny saved is... not much. Two's company, three's... the musketeers. Laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and... you have to blow your nose. Children should be seen and not... spanked or grounded. It seems that it's part of being human to condense wisdom down to memorable one-sentence proverbs. Maybe that's why we like God's Book of Proverbs so much. This Sunday, we're going to re-discover the proverbs through a new sermon series called "Bumper-Sticker Wisdom." Austin is a bumper-sticker-crazy town. Have you noticed this? When I first moved here six years ago, I was amazed at how many people felt I needed to know their opinion while waiting behind them in traffic! (I also concluded that our church facility is built on a "cultural fault line," because when you leave our church campus and head south, the bumper stickers get more liberal, and when you leave our church campus and head north, the bumper stickers get more conservative!) The biblical proverbs are "bumper sticker wisdom" -- condensed down to pithy statements meant to make you smile and nod appreciatively. I think you're going to find this new sermon series through God's proverbs to be a helpful study. We begin this Sunday at 10am with, "How to Get the Good Advice You Need." Proverbs 27:17 (TEV) says, "People learn from one another, just as iron sharpens iron." We're going to look at a lot of proverbs this week to discover five ways to enlist the good advice of wise people. By the way, you can help me prepare for this series by sending me photos of bumper stickers you see. I already have quite a collection, but pull out that cell phone, snap a photo, and e-mail it to me. I'll put some up on the screen this Sunday! --Tom Weblog: Check out my blog, "Get Anchored." Some things to look for... Song of the Week, posted every Sunday. Links to Your World, interesting and informative links, posted every Tuesday. Do you know friends who would appreciate Winning Ways? Just forward this e-mail to them! Have you subscribed to Winning Ways? You can subscribe by clicking here and following the instructions. Your e-mail address will not be sold or given away to anyone, and you can automatically change your subscription or drop it by following the easy steps provided with each e-mail. FRESH NEWS AT HILLCREST UPDATED WEEKLY: www.hillcrestaustin.org LISTEN TO RECENT SERMONS: Click here. MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS TO OUR EMAIL NEWSLETTERS: Click here. If you do not have access to the web, please send a note to newsmaster@hbcaustin.org to tell us of any changes you would like to make.