Sunday Sermon Series Proverbs 7 and 8

Hello everybody! Today I have drawings from the last couple of Sundays. August 21, and 28th, 2022 to be precise. We are still in the book of Proverbs, chapters 6, 7, and 8. I highly reocommend that you listen to them, here for chapter 7, and here for chapter 8. I felt that these drawings had merrit, even though they are still roughs. I will try to describe the concept for each of these illustrations below.

"Bind [your father's commandments] on your heart always; tie them around your neck." Proverbs 6:21 I start out with this image, which represents binding God's wisdom to our hearts. I had some rough sketches of the sheep that Noah speaks of, but I kept coming back to this idea/image. God's wisdom keeps us safe, gives us guidelines for how we are to live as followers of Christ in God's world. The Lord sees all, and his wisdom brings freedom.

If I were to do a finished drawing of this I would research what a nice pretty bow looks like, and replace the clumsy one depicted here, which gets the point across, but leaves me wanting more. The heart is not symetrical, but I like that. The lettering isn't perfect either, but that works for me too. The main point of this scripture is to warn about the perils of sexual sin while calling the listener to respond to the grace of Jesus. Listen to God's wisdom, and act. Illicit sex entices the eyes, but it steals your soul. The path of fidelity is the place of flourishing. The Lord sees all, and his wisdom brings freedom. Bind His wisdom on your heart. It is the best way to live in the universe He created. It is there to protect us from ourselves, and from sin in the world.

This illustration is pretty straight forward with both the tagline and imagery. I've sketched this concept before. I think this is the best version I've done so far though. Jesus loves us. Jesus provides a way, through his death on the cross, for us to be with the Father. Our sin costs us our life. Jesus paid the debt for all our sin, all at once. So we can be with the Father in eternity. Jesus gives us a new heart, because ours is full of sin. And once we are given that new heart we are welcomed.

Once again we see Cartoon Ryan as the sinner accepting Jesus love. I frequently use myself as the sinner described in the scripture being discussed. I do this as a constant reminder to anyone reading that I realize I am a broken sinner, just like everyone else. Let's keep the hypocrisy to a minimum. My beady cartoon eyes are quite close together here. Nothing symbolic in that, just making myself look a bit more comical. I'm wearing my usual costume: baseball shirt, shorts, and a pair of Chuck Taylor All Stars. I just noticed that Cartoon Jesus has on two different sandles. That isn't symbolism either, just an honest mistake. Rough illustrations indeed.

In chapter 8 one of the things that caught my attention was that God's wisdom was right there in the beginning with Jesus and the Father. This was something I had never considered before, and I recommend listening to this one as Jake uses scripture to back up this point. Why is that important? Because that means that it is more than just suggested rules for how to live a good life. It was interwoven into our world, from the beginning. Which makes sense considering who created our world, but something I hadn't thought about.

And here we have the final illustration for this week. Wisdom, with Jesus as he forms the earth.
John 1-
1. [1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. [4] In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it...[14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-5, 14)

What does all that mean? Obviously, John is writing about Jesus. Jesus was there in the beginning with God. See, Paul says this more clearly, that Jesus is the wisdom of God!
1. 1 Corinthians 1:24- “but we preach Christ...the power of God and the WISDOM of God.”
2. 1 Corinthians 1:30- “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God...”
3. Colossians 2:1-3- “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

I hope that this post has encouraged you, and or challenged you. I hope that you will go and listen to the sermons from Northwest Gospel Church that I listened to as I drew them, they are good sermons, and good for you. May God richly bless you my friends, until next time.--Ryan