GRADUATION

Graduation!  “Graduation” comes from the Latin word "gradus." And that dear Latin word means “STEP.”

So Graduation is a step, a beginning, a looking back at past steps to see how far these “graduates (steps) have come, and a looking forward to more steps (ORU for Carie Marie) to see where they, their next six steps are going to take them, and how far it is. Do you remember any of your graduations? How about pre-school, kindergarden, first grade, sixth grade, eight grade, freshman, high school? Do you remember what was said at those graduations? Do you know what I remember from my all of my graduation cermonies? “Congratulations.”

The speakers would say one sentence to us personally ("This is a beautiful day") and the rest was about challenge, success, opportunity, morals ethics, enterprise, business, etc. I however, do not want to stand up here and bore you.

But, I do know what I want to say at this graduation to the graduates.

Today's world is challenging. Today's world is exciting. Today's world is filled with both challenges and temptations. But to hear them again at this time of excitement and promise sometimes brings renewal, re-firing up of one's life. And, as a speaker, I am more inspired than the "victims" who must listen to me.

Graduation is a "step" yes, a step in the right direction. At the final graduation, where we shall all pass and enter heaven, the diploma will be a hug from the Good Lord. So get ready....and be grateful.

Dr. John W. Worley’s Rules for Life

Graduation June 1, 2001

RULE 1   - Life is not fair - get used to it.

RULE 2   - The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish

       something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

RULE 3   - You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice

       president with a car phone, until you earn both.

RULE 4   - If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.

RULE 5   - Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for

       burger flipping - they called it opportunity.

RULE 6 -   If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from

       them.

RULE 7 - Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from

paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So   before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

RULE 8 - Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools

they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

RULE 9 - Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are

     interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.

RULE 10 - Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to

       jobs.

RULE 11 - Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

RULE 12 -  God is ALWAYS there to help you and your Christian family, be it father and mother,

grand-parents, spouse, pastor, children, close friends, or a therapist put back the broken pieces and restore the damage done because of your determination to “do it your way.”

GOD’S RULE FOR LIFE

RULE 13 -  IF - - IF YOU - - IF YOU CAN “KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS” (Til the final step of your

life) Guess What? You take the FINAL STEP – FINAL STEP into Eternal Life and Satan Loses!

Rev. 12 –17 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 13I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. 14Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 16I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. 17And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

He is the first and the last, and the same from first to the last, and so is his word too; and he will by this word give to his people, who conform themselves to it, a right to the tree of life, and an entrance (step) into heaven; and this will be a full confirmation of the truth and authority of his word, since it contains the title and evidence of that confirmed state of holiness and happiness that remains for his people in heaven for ever and EVER.

Eeis

1519. eij" eis; prep. governing the acc. with the primary idea of motion into any place or thing; also of motion or direction to, toward or upon any place, thing. The opposite is expressed by ek (1537), out of.

Eekno

1537. ejk ek; Prep governing the gen. primarily meaning out of, from, as spoken of such objects which were before in another. If something is in something else, then the separation from it is expressed with ek, out of, while if it is near it, on it, with it, then apoΠis used. Ek is used either in respect of place, time, source, or origin. It is the direct opposite of eis (1519), into or in.

Apo

575. ajpov apoŒ; prep. primarily meaning from. It governs the genitive and expresses what is strickly the idea of the genitive case itself like ek