book of proverbs

BOOK OF PROVERBS! Hey there church fam! We are beginning our sermon series, Book of Proverbs! Pastor Brad is bringing us a message. Thanks for joining! We hope you will CLICK the share button so others can join.

Episode 85 - Stephanie takes us on a stroll through Proverbs to uncover the meaning, reach, and dangers of pride. Proverbs, alongside all of Scripture, teach "grace to the humble, but justice to the proud." Is that good news? Is justice what we seek? Or, do we desperately need grace?

We focus on pride. What is it? How does it manifest itself? How can we avoid it? Good pride, bad pride... how do we know the difference? This episode challenges us to see that anything short of begging for grace is sheer folly. So, what does it mean? 

The previous episode in our current series on Proverbs (episode 84) focused on the topic of fear. Stephanie explains that fear is rooted in a deflated view of God, but that pride is always rooted in an inflated view of Self. Oswald Chambers said, "pride is the deification of self." So, we travel down time lane and look at two of the most infamous examples of pride: first Satan; then, Adam and Eve. And then a more recent one: ourselves. 

Stephanie introduces us to two French words that both mean "pride" in English... with a level of nuance that will help you understand how to differentiate "good" pride and "bad" pride. Consequently, we look at human glory as always stemming from spiritual pride. 

We discover that we have a choice: will we embrace a life of pride, or one of humility? Of justice, or of grace? Of Self, or of Christ? The choice is ours. The consequences of our choice are not. Ultimately, our choice is informed by our view of Christ. Who is He to us, truly? Not as we would perfectly recite in Sunday Class, but as He is in the middle of the night, when the walls are closing in and there seems to be nothing but darkness. Who then is Christ truly to us? This, will define our choice to trust Him, or to reject Him in our actions--if not out words.

The choice is ours. Its consequences are not.

Finally, we end with the proper place of pride in the life of the sold-out believer. Again, it is rooted in who we believe God is, and who we believe we are in His eyes. We turn to Jesus as our role-model: how did He embrace pride and humility? What does it tell us of His heart for us? What does it tell us of His trustworthiness? Stephanie calls us to boldly enter the Throne Room, on our knees.

DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE

If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! There are 3 easy ways to do that:

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Go to gospelspice.com for more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, the umbrella ministry over the podcast. You will discover our partners and the various services we offer, such as in-depth Bible studies with interactive conversation groups, a couple of times a year. 

Go to gospel-spice.com (with a "dash"!) to join the Gospel Spice Podcast community and interact with us!

Contact us on the website or at contact@gospelspice.com to send us your prayer requests (we pray for you as a team every week!) and let us know how we can come alongside you.

--------- GOSPEL SPICE GIVEAWAY ---------

The latest Gospel Spice Giveaway is about to open! Starting May 10, enter at gospelspice.com/giveaway for a chance to win the book that Jennifer Rothschild will come to tell us about NEXT WEEK, Episode 86.  Make sure to take a listen, starting May 10, 2021!

New giveaways open on Gospel Spice all the time. Don't miss the next one if you happen to listen to this episode after the giveaway closes.

--------- CELEBRATING THE ASCENSION AND PENTECOST ---------

This year, Gospel Spice is not publishing episodes dedicated to the celebration of the Acension and Pentecost. These are crucial, momentous events in the life of Christ, and of the church. Please go to https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/gospel-spice/series/experience-the-ascension-and-pentecost/ to listen to all our content on this pricelesss topic! You will also find several other topic-themed inspiring series at the bottom of the page: gospel-spice.com

--------- NEW SUMMER SERIES STARTING JULY 19 2021 ---------

Stephanie mentioned our new Gospel Spice series, Identity in the battle, starting July 19, 2021. We offer a brand new option to go deeper into our series together. It is completely free, and registration will open on JUNE 1, 2021 at gospelspice.com/identity. It is only available over the Summer 2021, so if you catch this episode after we've closed our Summer 2021 series, stay tuned for MORE options! Check gospelspice.com for the latest updates.

This season of the Gospel Spice Podcast is powered by Biblica! We are grateful for this partnership.

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Episode 82 - How can we cultivate spiritual integrity?

We beckon you deeper into the Book of Proverbs this week. Once again, Stephanie introduces us to a fictional character. This week, his name is Brian, and he struggles with an addiction to people's approval of him. This leads him down to dangerous places of self-worship, deceit and manipulation. These are our key themes this week in Proverbs, underlying the concept of spiritual adultery.

In this episode, we will learn to see our heart as the driver behind our will (yes, the pun is absolutely intended!) and how we can surrender our will to God's perfect wisdom from above the sun. Our will both shapes and is shaped by our identity, so we will wonder: how can we center our identity on Christ?

We follow Lady Wisdom and Folly in the pages of Proverbs today. We look at seven things the Lord hates, and how they all speak of behavior-based identity. We see that the road of flattery and deceit leads to death, but the road of integrity and truth leads to life. Then, we dare to dive into what it means to consider Christ as our Bridegroom. How is He our spiritual Husband? What does it mean? What does Scripture teach on that? And how is a human marriage as God intends, between a man and a woman, a picture of His heavenly intention of a spiritual marriage between Christ and His bride, the Church universal composed of all the true believers across time and space?

Proverbs provides us with two mirrors to understand life: the self-centered-love mirror, with a distorted reflection; or the Christ-centered-love mirror, which points to God.

We end with a powerful word picture helping us see that we live inside the picture book of God's universe, where marriage and wisdom are but stick-figure picture of the true Reality, with a capital R, that awaits us beyond the book. We live inside this universe-book today, but the Holy Spirit beckons us already, in Christ and through wisdom, to peek over the edge of the page into the glorious bottomless infinity of God's weighty presence.

Through the Book of Proverbs, God invites you to taste the intoxicating love of His Son through the Holy Spirit. Come and be filled. Taste and see that the Lord is good today!

DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE

If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! There are 3 easy ways to do that:

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Go to gospelspice.com for more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, the umbrella ministry over the podcast. You will discover our partners and the various services we offer, such as in-depth Bible studies with interactive conversation groups, a couple of times a year. 

Go to gospel-spice.com (with a "dash"!) to join the Gospel Spice Podcast community and interact with us!

Contact us on the website or at contact@gospelspice.com to send us your prayer requests (we pray for you as a team every week!) and let us know how we can come alongside you.

This season of the Gospel Spice Podcast is powered by Biblica! We are grateful for this partnership.

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Episode 81 -- Welcome to our new Gospel Spice season in the Book of Proverbs.

Stephanie hopes to provice a Christocentric approach to the Book of Proverbs as "wisdom from above the sun." If you are NEW to Gospel Spice, we invite you to discover us at gospelspice.com. Stephanie teaches about 2/3 of the time here, and then has amazing guests for the rest of our time! For example she recently welcomed Liz Curtis Higgs and Geof Morin to celebrate Easter. And now, we are back to our usual rhythm with our new Proverbs series. Expect amazing guests every third week! 

For this series, Stephanie will start each episode by introducing you to a fictional character... but they may hit close to home! They will embody a value or trait that will be the focus of the episode. We will meet eight characters, and they will teach much about wisdom... or the lack thereof!

Stephanie is offering a FREE listening guide to this episode. You will find it in the shownotes to print or follow along!

Today, we will seek to understand what is wisdom by first looking at what it is not. What does Proverbs tell us about the "simple"? The "foolish"? The "wicked"? Who are they, how are they the same and different, and what can we learn from them... to avoid becoming like them?

We will ponder "wisdom under the sun" as Solomon touts in Ecclesiastes; and then realize that, through Christ, we are given access to the wisdom that is from above the sun--the only one that will truly carry us through life.

We will look at the wisdom of the world, and contrast it with the wisdom of Christ. How does Jesus complete the wisdom of Proverbs?

We will ponder the lessons from the lives of the authors and compilers of the Book of Proverbs. What do they teach us? How did their walk match their talk? Who inspired them? 

How does our theology influence our experience of Proverbs... and vice-versa?

Stephanie challenges us to ponder these nuggets of wisdom in Christ:

Wisdom is genius. 

Humility is heroic.

Faith is daring.

Love is extravagant.

And, surrender to God is true boldness.

This season of the Gospel Spice Podcast is powered by Biblica! We are grateful for this partnership.

------ JOIN THE GOSPEL SPICE COMMUNITY! --------

DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE

If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! There are 3 easy ways to do that:

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Go to gospelspice.com for more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, the umbrella ministry over the podcast. You will discover our partners and the various services we offer, such as in-depth Bible studies with interactive conversation groups, a couple of times a year. 

Go to gospel-spice.com (with a "dash"!) to join the Gospel Spice Podcast community and interact with us!

You can also support us financially through PayPal or directly by secure link. We are a registered non-profit 501c3 organization, and your donations are fully tax-deductible in the USA!

Contact us on the website or at contact@gospelspice.com to send us your prayer requests (we pray for you as a team every week!) and let us know how we can come alongside you.

Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!