School is all about using our time differently than we planned. Yesterday, the weather was wonderful. There was an excellent breeze. And I spent a lot of the day studying. And its not fun. You keep reading the page and somehow you don’t see the answer. I get nervous when I look at something carefully and still can’t figure out what it means.
We can celebrate today because a lot of students have spent their time in school and working hard. And we’re here to thank God for your work.
And we’re here because I want to ask you to take some of the time of your life to know God. I found a video that shows how much time we spend on the phone, time sleeping, and even time in the bathroom. Later in the program, we are going to hear some words about the wonderful things God has for your life if you choose to take some of those minutes and make God the center of them
The Bible talks about God’s gift of wisdom. If we seek God, we get wisdom. But you are already gaining so much knowledge in school. Why do you need wisdom? What’s the difference between wisdom and knowledge? In school, you get a course in biology. They teach you how the hand works. You’ll get to find out what its made of and how to fix it. But none of that knowledge will teach you what to use your hand for, for building up or for tearing down.
Every gift is a double edged sword. In school they will teach you about the internet. We’re going to do that too with the new computers at 82nd Street Academics. This generation will communicate and form friendships around the globe in a way that has never been known before. I’m in a study group online. There are three students from India, one from Austria, and all over the United States. I chat with people about problems and trade answers and I will never meet anyone of them in person. By the time this group of students is through college, I think there will be improvements in video and sound so that online groups and this service will have a dozen people participating whenever you are out of town.
But none of that knowledge helps you choose which groups to be part of on the internet. There are drug dealers arranging hidden shipments on the internet, sexual predators lurking and scams to take your money. What will protect you is wisdom.
God’s word that wisdom is different from knowledge is nothing unique. Each of us has wisdom teeth. They are the last teeth to appear on our jaw after we lose our baby teeth. They are called wisdom teeth because you are supposed to have wisdom by the time they appear.
Another person said that wisdom is the prize that you for listening to others when you would have preferred to talk.
Families, 82nd Street Academics is part of Community Church because we believe that your children need spiritual strength as well as academic skills to make it to college and beyond.
And this is a church in transition. We are building a new community and forming the inclusive group you see today. What pulls us all together is our need and hope to find God together. We have heard God say that Jesus came to save us, help us, change us, redirect us, empower us, use us, fulfill us, and make us victorious over failure. If you have those same hopes for your family, I want you to join us every Sunday. You have spent an incredible amount of money on knowledge. Make sure your kids get wisdom AMEN
