No Yellow Flags!
Preaching
Lions And Cows Dining Together
And 111 Other Sermon Ideas
Object:
Purpose Statement: Christians should be concerned about avoiding making mistakes.
Quite often, while watching a football game, we may become frustrated when a player on "our" team makes a mistake and the official throws a yellow flag on the ground. It seems to happen to "our" team, and never to the other team when they have a drive going. They are moving the ball down the field and then a penalty sets them back and stalls out the momentum. Doesn't it always seem the penalty is foolish and avoidable? A lineman jumps offside before the ball is snapped or a player blocks from behind. As spectators, we consider these ridiculous mistakes should never happen except to players on the other team who are not smart enough to avoid them. It should be so easy: just don't jump offside. The same thing happens to all of us, probably daily, as we make foolish mistakes and God (thinking, "How stupid can that human be?"), wants to throw a yellow flag.
a. Christian concern. The teachings of Jesus are filled with concern for others to the extent we must consider it one of the major themes. We are to be Good Samaritans, feed the poor, go the second mile, be peacemakers, heal others, and love our neighbor as our self. Logically, it follows we should avoid making mistakes that inconvenience or hurt others. This must become one of our major concerns and is the reason for this sermon. As our world gets more crowded and complicated, there are more and more mistakes being made every day. We live in an age of information and communication, and yet errors seem to occur now more than ever. Jesus' parable of the ten attendants at the wedding (Matthew 25:1-11) is apropos of our daily experiences. Five of them were careless and spoiled the wedding. Christians must avoid mistakes.
b. Serious concern. Most of our errors are minor and many are harmless, which makes them insidious in their accumulative affect on social harmony. For example, when we order something by mail, often we will not get what we ordered. While many mistakes may only inconvenience someone (which a Christian does not want to do at any time), they may also be of life and death proportions. How often have we heard of an accident where a person ran through a red light and killed someone in another car? One story told of a compounding error where the emergency vehicle was sent to the wrong location by the dispatcher who gave the address in the 1600 block and the accident was in the 600 block. The injured person might have lived had the ambulance arrived on time. Being accident prone or careless may become habitual simply because we have not conditioned or disciplined ourselves. Jesus told a parable (Matthew 25:14-23) about being faithful in small matters and being rewarded with greater responsibilities. Can we turn this coin over and make it applicable to our mistakes? If we are careless in little things like jumping offside, could we be conditioning ourselves for more serious penalty flags such as unnecessary roughness?
c. Remedial concern. As a Christian, I must care enough to do my best. My concern for others should motivate me to remedial action in exercising care and thoughtfulness at all times since some occasions are of a life and death nature. A part of our spiritual exercise each day should include preparation in carefulness. We can practice avoiding accidents and mistakes just as industry and businesses hope to prevent or curtail injuries on the job by posting signs in the workplace stating: "We are in our 38th accident-free day." God wants me to tell you that I will be very cautious because I love you. A person who lived at the top of a mountain accessible only by a tortuous winding road with steep drop-offs was interviewing chauffeurs. The first applicant drove very fast to make an impression of how skilled he was. The second applicant drove very close to the edge of the drop-offs to show how brave a driver she was. The third applicant drove very slowly and as far from the edge as possible, and was the one hired.
Quite often, while watching a football game, we may become frustrated when a player on "our" team makes a mistake and the official throws a yellow flag on the ground. It seems to happen to "our" team, and never to the other team when they have a drive going. They are moving the ball down the field and then a penalty sets them back and stalls out the momentum. Doesn't it always seem the penalty is foolish and avoidable? A lineman jumps offside before the ball is snapped or a player blocks from behind. As spectators, we consider these ridiculous mistakes should never happen except to players on the other team who are not smart enough to avoid them. It should be so easy: just don't jump offside. The same thing happens to all of us, probably daily, as we make foolish mistakes and God (thinking, "How stupid can that human be?"), wants to throw a yellow flag.
a. Christian concern. The teachings of Jesus are filled with concern for others to the extent we must consider it one of the major themes. We are to be Good Samaritans, feed the poor, go the second mile, be peacemakers, heal others, and love our neighbor as our self. Logically, it follows we should avoid making mistakes that inconvenience or hurt others. This must become one of our major concerns and is the reason for this sermon. As our world gets more crowded and complicated, there are more and more mistakes being made every day. We live in an age of information and communication, and yet errors seem to occur now more than ever. Jesus' parable of the ten attendants at the wedding (Matthew 25:1-11) is apropos of our daily experiences. Five of them were careless and spoiled the wedding. Christians must avoid mistakes.
b. Serious concern. Most of our errors are minor and many are harmless, which makes them insidious in their accumulative affect on social harmony. For example, when we order something by mail, often we will not get what we ordered. While many mistakes may only inconvenience someone (which a Christian does not want to do at any time), they may also be of life and death proportions. How often have we heard of an accident where a person ran through a red light and killed someone in another car? One story told of a compounding error where the emergency vehicle was sent to the wrong location by the dispatcher who gave the address in the 1600 block and the accident was in the 600 block. The injured person might have lived had the ambulance arrived on time. Being accident prone or careless may become habitual simply because we have not conditioned or disciplined ourselves. Jesus told a parable (Matthew 25:14-23) about being faithful in small matters and being rewarded with greater responsibilities. Can we turn this coin over and make it applicable to our mistakes? If we are careless in little things like jumping offside, could we be conditioning ourselves for more serious penalty flags such as unnecessary roughness?
c. Remedial concern. As a Christian, I must care enough to do my best. My concern for others should motivate me to remedial action in exercising care and thoughtfulness at all times since some occasions are of a life and death nature. A part of our spiritual exercise each day should include preparation in carefulness. We can practice avoiding accidents and mistakes just as industry and businesses hope to prevent or curtail injuries on the job by posting signs in the workplace stating: "We are in our 38th accident-free day." God wants me to tell you that I will be very cautious because I love you. A person who lived at the top of a mountain accessible only by a tortuous winding road with steep drop-offs was interviewing chauffeurs. The first applicant drove very fast to make an impression of how skilled he was. The second applicant drove very close to the edge of the drop-offs to show how brave a driver she was. The third applicant drove very slowly and as far from the edge as possible, and was the one hired.
