One Sunday a preacher told the congregation that the church needed some extra money and asked the people to prayerfully consider giving a little extra in the offering plate. He said that whoever gave the most would be able to pick out three hymns.

After the offering plates were passed, the preacher glanced down and noticed that someone had placed a $1,000 bill(this must have been some time ago since this bill is no longer printed) in offering. He was so excited that he immediately shared his joy with his congregation and said he’d like to personally thank the person who placed the money in the plate.

A very quiet, elderly and saintly lady all the way in the back shyly raised her hand. The preacher asked her to come to the front. Slowly she made her way to the front. He told her how wonderful it was that she gave so much and in thanksgiving asked her to pick out three hymns. ….Her eyes brightened as she looked over the congregation, pointed to the three handsomest men in the building and said, “I’ll take him and him and him.”

(REMEMBER WORDS CAN MEAN DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE)

We must allow God’s word to describe sin. When man decides the description of sin it lessens the seriousness of man’s actions. Man has always tended to think actions were not sinful when God has said they were. Satan started this tendency in the garden when he diminished God’s command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and man has been doing it ever since. 

Society today rejects, as being wrong, almost everything God had called sin. Drunkenness, adultery, fornication, lying, cheating, stealing, murder, violence, all are said by society to be okay today. We need to allow the creator to determine what constitutes sin and accept his definition not that of society.

1 John 3:4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 
1 John 5:17a All unrighteousness is sin, 
James 4:17 To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. 
Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people. 
Our nation is in serious trouble because of our rejection of God’s definition of sin. - Larry Pasley

A country family took a vacation to New York City. One day, the father took his son into a rather large building; they were amazed by everything they saw --especially the elevator at one end of the lobby. 

The boy asked, "What's this, Paw?" The father responded, "Son I have never seen anything like this in my life, I don't know what it is!" 

While the boy and his father were watching in wide-eyed astonishment, an old lady in a wheel chair rolled up to the moving walls and pressed a button. 

The walls opened and the lady rolled between them into a small room. The walls closed and the boy and his father watched small circles of lights above the walls light up. 

They continued to watch the circles light up in the reverse direction. The walls opened again, and a beautiful 24-year-old woman stepped out. 

The father turned to his son and said, "Quick, Go get your Maw."

This story illustrates the fact that when we don’t understand something then we tend to jump to conclusions. 

Lack of bible knowledge causes people to jump to conclusions also. Honest and sincere people sometimes read a scripture and jump to a conclusion because they don’t consider all the bible says about the subject. Before we draw conclusions on what the bible says about a particular subject we need to be sure we have all the information available. A good concordance is a valuable tool to help with gaining that knowledge.

We also jump to conclusion about people sometimes because we don’t have all the information we need. There may be circumstances we are unaware of that contribute to the attitudes or actions of others. As the old saying goes, “We should not criticize a person until we have walked a mile in their shoes.”

Jumping to conclusions can be dangerous for us whether it pertains to our understand of God’s Word or other people. We need to look closely before we leap. - Larry Pasley

     This is a good way to illustrate the importance of reading and following the instructions properly. If it is done properly it should take about 1-2 minutes, improperly done it could take 5-10. I usually allow two minutes or even print it in the bulletin so they can have it done before the sermon begins. This goes well with lessons on the plan of salvation, the organization of the church, the worship of the church, or other lessons about obedience. You can look at it below and download it at the bottom of the post.

FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS
Directions:  First read all 14 of the numbered items below.  After reading all of the statements and questions you can do as they tell you.
1) Circle the word 'directions' in the title.
2) What is your favorite season of the year?
3) Where do you usually attend church services?
4) What time is it right now?
5) Underline 'follow' at the top of the page.
6) Spell your name backwards
7) What is your favorite Bible verse?
8) Who is your favorite Bible character?
9) Go back and read the directions again.
10) Erase or mark out your answer to #4 and replace it with the time it is right now.
11) Write the name of the person sitting to your right if there is one.
12) Do you think you have everything right so far?
13) On what page of your Bible is Genesis 1:1 found?
14) Completely ignore numbers one through thirteen and just write your name on the back of the page.  Don't tell anyone the secret.