Sermon Response Guide
PRIMARY SCRIPTURE:
Proverbs 2:1-15 ESV
1 My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 guarding the paths of justice
and watching over the way of his saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
10 for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 discretion will watch over you,
understanding will guard you,
12 delivering you from the way of evil,
from men of perverted speech,
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness
to walk in the ways of darkness,
14 who rejoice in doing evil
and delight in the perverseness of evil,
15 men whose paths are crooked,
and who are devious in their ways.
Key Points
- We can have knowledge without wisdom, but we cannot have wisdom without knowledge. Wisdom is applied knowledge.
- Wisdom is a gift given by God to help us navigate life on earth.
- Wisdom is a guide that brings us into God’s blessing for our lives.
- Wisdom is a grind because of the constant call for us to abandon God’s path of wisdom and follow other paths.
- Wise living won’t save us. Only the truly wise one, Jesus Christ – the Son of God who listened to his Father’s voice – only he can give us new life.
- The more knowledge we have of God’s grace, the more we will embrace God’s forgiveness, and the more we will obey God.
Memory Verse
Ask God to write this word on your heart this week:
“For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;”
-Proverbs 2:6 ESV
Questions for Reflection
Take time to reflect and respond to these questions on your own in the presence of the Holy Spirit, or with trusted friends or family members:
1: How did you define wisdom before today?
· Now, after hearing this message, how would you define wisdom?
2: What is the benefit of wisdom?
3: How do we get wisdom?
4: What is the challenge of wisdom?
5: How does knowing Proverbs was written from a father to his son affect the way you read and receive the book of Proverbs?
6: Read Matthew 7:24-25 and answer the questions that follow.
· In the Kingdom of God, what is the relationship between hearing and doing?
· What points from today’s message are reflected in this passage?
7: How did you grow in your knowledge of God today?
· Just as you have grown in knowledge today, how will you grow in wisdom by applying that knowledge this week?
Pray
Lord, we confess there is a way which seems right and good before us, but it is not necessarily wise. Giver of wisdom, awaken us to see as you see, hope as you hope, and love as you love. Holy Spirit of the Living God, we cry out for your insight. By your grace, may your wisdom come into our hearts, and may your knowledge be most pleasing to our souls.
