The Wisdom of God

NEW SERMON SERIES: 10.02.11

Have you ever seen the Wizard of Oz (1939)? I’m sure you have and even if you haven’t, I know you’ve heard of it. If you’ve never heard of this film, I want to offer you a moment to crawl out from under the rock you’ve been living under for the past 70+ years.

This is a beautiful story about a girl named Dorothy and her dog Toto who were caught up in a tornado and ended up in the Land of Oz. Dorothy meets some good friends on her way to meet the Wizard of Oz, who everyone says can get her back to Kansas. Along her journey she runs into the Scarecrow who is in desperate need of a brain. She then encounters the Tin Woodman who longs for a heart. Finally, she bumps into the Cowardly Lion who wishes for courage. There is only one problem, the Wicked Witch of the West is out to get them all!  

For the next few weeks we are going to look at the Wizard of Oz and see how we can gain some Wisdom of God through the process.

DOROTHY

Are you like Dorothy? Dorothy is scared to death that her evil neighbor is going to put Toto to sleep; therefore she escapes reality and finds herself in the Land of Oz. Are you trying to run away from a problem you have? Well, you are not the only one! Jonah ran away as well. We will be looking at Jonah 1:1-17 as we look at why it is important to not run away from what you perceive as a problem.

SCARECROW

Are you like the Scarecrow? Do you ever feel like you could use some more brain? Me too! I mean, I could use some more brain, not that you needed more brains! Far too often we are stuck in the past, unable to do what God wants us to do because we continue to think about what we use to do or who we use to be. We are going to look at Romans 12:1-2 and see how we must allow God to transform our minds and become who He wants us to be.

TIN WOODMAN

Are you like the Tin Woodman? Do you ever think to yourself that your heart may not be in the right place? We are in desperate need of a complete heart transplant and there is only one Cardiologist that can do this type of procedure. We will be looking at Ezekiel 36:26 and talking about the story of God, Ezekiel and Israel and how God has the ability and desire to completely change our hearts.

COWARDLY LION

Are you like the Cowardly Lion? Are you in need of some courage to do what God has called you to do? Many times we fear doing what God wants us to, but we need to realize that if God wants us to do it, He promises to be with us. It is for that reason that we can be courageous. We will look at Joshua 1:1-9 and see how God called Joshua to be courageous because He promised to be with him every step of the way.

THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST

& THE WIZARD OF OZ

You better not be like the Wicked Witch! Have you ever noticed that on the path towards God we have a tendency to listen to the lies of Satan? We have listened to Satan far too much. This is why we run away from our problems, this is why we stay stuck in our past, this is why we allow our hearts to remain cold and callused, and this is why we fail to be courageous in living for God. We will be looking at various passages of Scripture (Jn8:44, 1Jn4:4, 1Pt5:8) that will help us understand that Satan is a liar and that God is the real deal.

This series will begin OCTOBER 2, 2011! Hope you can make it!

Grace & Peace, Marc