Sermon Central
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Lessons Learned The Hard Way
Contributed by David Cook on Aug 8, 2010 (message contributor)
Summary: 4 Lessons Joshua and the people of God had to learn the hard way.
These are the nominees for the Chevy Nova Award. This is given in honor of the GM’s fiasco in trying to market this car in Central and South America. "No va" means, in Spanish, "No go."
1. An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope’s visit. Instead of "I saw the Pope" (el Papa), the shirts read "I Saw the Potato" (la papa).
2. Pepsi’s "Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave" in Chinese.
3. The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Kekoukela", meaning "Bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax", depending on the dialect. Coke then did their research to translate it into "happiness in the mouth."
4. When American Airlines wanted to advertise its new leather first class seats in the Mexican market, it translated its "Fly In Leather" campaign literally, which meant "Fly Naked" (vuela en cuero) in Spanish!
Just as businesses, agencies, sports teams, countries, families, churches, individuals, etc. sometimes come to find out…you have to learn some lessons the hard way. Same is true in the Christian life. It’s not your victories that you learn most from, but your defeats. How sweet it is to know the thrill of victory, but there is also the agony of defeat!
Every Christian and every church experiences highs and lows. The highs would include salvation, seeing people baptized, finding their ministry, seeing couples married and building their lives upon the Rock of Jesus Christ, serving the lost and unchurched in our community with acts of kindness in Jesus’ Name. Some of the lows would be people who disappoint, petty arguments, unresolved conflicts, uncommitted Christians who would prefer sleeping in over studying God’s Word, Singing God’s praise, knowing the enemy is ever working to bring people down! In our seven years at CWBC, I’m thankful for the high times, but also for the low times because God is trying to teach us through these times some valuable lessons.
1. BE AWARE OF THE DEVIL’S DECEPTIONS
It may not come as a shock to you, but just b/c you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, doesn’t automatically mean you are going to experience victory in your daily walk. You have an enemy. If not a believer, he already has you, and wants nothing more than to keep you from experiencing new life in Jesus Christ. There is spiritual warfare going on; For the believer, the devil cannot do anything to your soul, but he can ruin your testimony for the Lord.
1 And it came to pass when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the hills and in the lowland and in all the coasts of the Great Sea toward Lebanon—the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—heard about it, 2 that they gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord.
Be aware of the devil’s devices. (1) DECEIVES YOUR THOUGHTS – He wants you to take this spiritual battle lightly. Just as Joshua and the Israelites would face battles in the promised land, you and I are going to face spiritual battles in daily life that require God’s wisdom. Ex. When I became pastor of CBC, a man came up to me before the service; he looked awful, clothes messed up, smelled bad, etc. He said he needed help b/c his house burned down. Do you know the mistake I made? I told the church, “This man needs our help. His house burned down and we need to take up an offering.” Bad Move. I went by his “address” the next day only to find that address didn’t even exist. That was a lesson I’ve had to learn the hard way. Just because someone looks like they are for real, doesn’t mean they always are.
(2) DESTROYS YOUR TESTIMONY - Satan wants to take you down and God’s Name down through deceiving you into bad decisions. You know the devil will extend plenty of credit, by think of the payment!
Ex. Boyfriend says, “if you really love me, you’ll prove it tonight.”
If you are going to make good grades, you are going to need to find a way to cheat.
You deserve that shopping trip to the mall, (doesn’t tell you about the debt)… doesn’t want you to experience God’s blessing through tithing…God says, He will rebuke the devour!
Looking at this site won’t hurt you…no one will know.
That person really hurt you, go ahead and drag their name down.
But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
