Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

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(Name Tag) - “Hello.

My name is Jeff Banks and I’m addicted to Planning.”

I have “plans” on my calendar for the upcoming week and I have plans on my calendar six months from now.

Some of you “cringe” right?

It’s one thing to plan out a week in advance but to plan six months out is some kind of disease!

Don’t hate.

Perhaps you share my addiction and need to join my support group.

How many of you are planner?

(Please stand).

Awesome – you’re my people!

For those of you who aren’t standing, you’re a bit more spontaneous, you don’t make plans, and quite frankly you’re crazy.

I don’t know how you get through life, honestly.

I love you deeply but how do you do it?

I love planning.

Most of the conversations when I have coffee with my bride revolves around plans – “What’s the plan for today?”

What’s the plan for dinner?”

“What’s the plan for the weekend?” “What’s the plan for our trip?”

Most of my frustration in life comes when things don’t go according to my plan – leave later than I plan or plan gets changed due to circumstances out of my control – I like the comfort and safety of my plans.

In fact, next to my Bible, I carry this planner every where I go.

I have a written planner (old school) and put my plans on my phone calendar so Dana can see what I’m up to each day.

Need

Planner or non-planner, plans are a part of life.

All of us have to navigate plans even if we’re not making plans.

We have to be subject to the plans of others.

We can make plans in advance or at the last minute but sometimes plans must be made because things just don’t happen automatically.

Plans impact our lives in various ways.

Important decisions about future (don’t know what to do) Frustrated when plans don’t work out We pray for the future plans of our kids/grandkids (hopes & desires)

I’m a “planner” and yet as I take inventory of my life I recognize that there were plans that I had that never quite came to pass.

There are chapters of my life that I didn’t plan but I recognize that it was a part of a bigger plan—God’s plan—and I’m so thankful.

How about you?

As a church we desire to make an impact the lives of others through the good news of Jesus Christ so we make plans for the budget, plans for the Sunday morning bible fellowship classes and small groups, plans for AWANA and student ministry “Minute to Win It” kick-offs, and plans to preach through the book of Jonah in the fall.

Since plans are a vital part of our lives it’s imperative that we glean God’s wisdom for our plans from God’s Word.

Preview

This morning we return to the book of Proverbs to conclude our mini-series “Walking in Wisdom.”

We’ve gleaned wisdom for our words, wisdom for our pride, and wisdom for our wallet from the book of Proverbs.

Today we conclude the series with “Wisdom for Our Plans.”

So please open up your Bible to the book of Proverbs.

It’s found in the OT.

If you need a Bible I invite you to grab one from the back table there to follow along.

Proverbs is in one of the 30 books that make of the OT.

The OT is divided up into four main sections—the Law, History, Poetry, and Prophets—and Proverbs is one of the books of poetry.

What is the theme of the book?

(Wisdom).

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (1:7) – wisdom is knowledge that leads to understanding who God is and the skill of living God’s way.

WISDOM FOR OUR PLANS

O.K.

With that as a backdrop, let’s dig in to discover God’s wisdom for Your Plans.

Today we will uncover four wisdom principles for our plans.

In the end I pray that you will know God more and that your plans will be impacted by God’s truth uncovered this morning.

Let’s dig in.

If you have your Bible (printed or electronic), and I hope you do, open up to the book of Proverbs.

I) Our plans are subject to God’s sovereignty ()

Please go to Proverbs. . .

Let’s begin this discovery of wisdom for our plans in . .

21Many are the plans in a man’s heart,

but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

[1]

The proverb teaches us basic doctrine—anthropology and the theology proper—the study of humanity and the study of God.

Here we discover one of the most important truths about God which has a profound impact on our plans.

Let’s take a closer look at this Proverb and uncover a life-changing wisdom principle for our plans.

There are two contrasting points in this Proverb (antithetical parallelism).

1) Our Opportunity to Plan (19:21a)

First, we see “Our Opportunity to Plan.”

We have this opening declaration— “There are many plans in a man’s heart.

Once again the term “man” is used generally for mankind so it includes women and could be translated “Many are the plans in a person’s heart.”

The “plans” we make originate from within (our hearts) and denotes the act of thinking and devising of intentions and ideas.

We’re not talking about whims or inclinations, this refers thinking, deliberating, and determining specific plans for a future activity or goal.

Notice we have the freedom to make plans.

We’ve all made plans, some of us spend more time planning than others, and some of the plans we think of are more significant than others.

Some of our plans seem rather insignificant in the grand scheme of life—such as where you will go to lunch today (Applebees or Oles) or what we’ll wear each day—and other plans seem more significant like what college to attend, what vacation to take, plans for a wedding, and plans for retirement.

We have the opportunity (freedom) to make plans every day.

We can and should make plans in life.

I love making plans.

2) The Reality of God’s Sovereignty (19:21b)

Our Opportunity to Make Plans is contrasted with The Reality of God’s Sovereignty.

Notice all the plans we make within are contrasted with the Lord’s impact on our plans.

We make our plans BUT “it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

There is a difference between the plans we come up with in our mind and what actually occurs in life.

The Lord is sovereign over our plans—we are free to plan but in the end, it’s the Lord’s purpose that literally “rises up and prevails.”

All “the creative calculations” that originate from our mind are ultimately dependent upon His sovereign will.

We can make our plans but the end result of our plans is subject to the sovereignty of God.

The Lord has the power to make our plans succeed, cause our plans to fail, bring about the opposite of our plans, and redeem our plans in order to accomplish His sovereign plan and purposes for our lives.

Thankfully not every plan we make will come to pass.

The Lord is sovereign over our plan.

APPLICATION

Principle #1: Our plans are subject to God’s sovereignty!

Our plans are subject to God’s sovereignty!

We must humbly acknowledge the reality of God’s sovereignty in our lives.None of our plans can stand apart from His sovereign will.

Our best laid plans are subject to His sovereignty—we make our plans but the outcome is in God’s hands—for He can cause them to succeed or cause them to fail in order to accomplish His ultimate and greater plan and purpose for our lives.

Trump Card – We love to play games at our house – board games and card games – we play card games like Rook, “Up and Down the River,” and Pitch that have “trump”—a specific color or suit that “trumps” or takes all other cards.

If I play a card worth points and my opponent plays a “trump” card they will get the points.

The trump card has the power and the final say in what happens in each round.

God’s sovereignty is the “trump card” over our plans.

God’s sovereign will and decree will trump our plans every time.

GRACE U: Many of the students I met at Grace University had “planned” to graduate from Grace U and the staff and faculty had plans to continue teaching at Grace– those plans were trumped by God’s sovereignty in the closing of the school – many students had their plans disrupted and redirected because of the sovereign will of God.

God had other plans for those students who are now attending other schools.

God can and will trump our plans - He’s the King - He’s in charge.

We have a hard time because we want to be in charge and we want life to be about our plans.

We serve a sovereign God.