The Voices That Shape Your Life

In this message from Proverbs 1 and Proverbs 4, Pastor Chris Teien explores how the voices and influences we allow into our lives shape our character, decisions, and leadership. In a world filled with competing messages from social media, culture, friends, family, and entertainment, God's wisdom teaches believers how to discern truth and choose influences that lead toward righteousness. 

Link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2285086/episodes/19344461

Through practical examples, biblical instruction, and personal illustrations, listeners are challenged to seek wise counsel, avoid harmful influences, and walk the path God has prepared for them. This message reminds us that every choice and every influence helps determine the direction of our lives. 

Key Points:

1.  Listen to Wise Voices (Proverbs 1:8-9; Romans 15:4) – God uses parents, mentors, Scripture, biographies, and faithful believers to help guide us in wisdom. 
2.  Learn from the Experience of Others (Proverbs 12:15; Proverbs 13:20) – Wise people remain teachable and learn from both the successes and failures of those who have gone before them. 
3.  Avoid Harmful Influences (Proverbs 1:10-19; 1 Corinthians 15:33) – Sin often presents itself through temptation, peer pressure, acceptance, greed, and shortcuts that ultimately lead to destruction. 
4.  Choose the Right Path (Proverbs 4:14-19) – God calls believers to walk in righteousness, reject compromise, and trust Him even when obedience requires difficult decisions. 

Personal Stories from Pastor Chris:

Pastor Chris shared how biographies of missionaries, pastors, and Christian leaders have influenced his own ministry and spiritual growth. He reflected on lessons learned from C.T. Studd, C.H. Spurgeon, A.W. Tozer, John Knox, and others. He also shared stories about older believers who lived through difficult times and a humorous illustration about dogs learning behaviors from one another, demonstrating how influence affects everyone. 

Notable Quotes:

"Everybody that's a leader has been led by somebody and influenced by somebody."

"Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others."

"Proverbs 1 focuses on the sales pitch of sin."

"Sin always promises more than it delivers." 

Actionable Takeaways:

• Evaluate the voices that most influence your thinking and decisions.

• Seek wisdom from Scripture and mature believers.

• Refuse invitations that lead toward compromise and sin.

• Become a godly influence in the lives of others.

Scripture References:

Proverbs 1:8-19; Proverbs 4:14-19; Proverbs 12:15; Proverbs 13:20; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 15:33. 

Keywords:

Proverbs, Wisdom, Christian Leadership, Godly Influence, Biblical Wisdom, Discipleship, Spiritual Growth, Christian Living, Wise Counsel, Character

Challenge:

Ask God to help you identify wise influences, reject harmful voices, and faithfully walk the path of wisdom He has prepared for you.

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Chris Teien, Pastor of Rockwell Church in Virginia, Minnesota, shares biblical preaching and practical encouragement through the WELL Faith Sermon Audio Podcast, along with occasional guest speakers. New messages are shared every week to encourage you in your faith and help you apply God's Word to your life. Learn more at ChrisTeien.com and Rockwell.church

Transcript

Chris T 0:00

Continuing in the book of Proverbs, wisdom for leading well, and that's what we want to do is we want to lead our lives well. We want people to follow in our footsteps and see our example because we're all leading someone. I've mentioned this before. If you're a parent or a grandparent or an employer or a neighbor, you can be leading people towards good or towards bad. And so we're looking at Proverbs chapter 1 and Proverbs chapter 4 today. We'll be in Proverbs for this month and next month for sure. And today we want to talk about leading through wise influences. Leading through wise influences. So everybody that's a leader has been led by somebody, influenced by somebody. People just don't walk into leadership without some kind of training, some kind of example. And that is the way that God planned it. Parents are the ones that are charged with raising children in the Lord to be leaders. They are the most influential and have the most time to invest into their children. And so parents are very important when it comes to leading. Today we have so many voices that speak into lives, into our lives, into our children's lives that sometimes compete for our attention and sometimes compete for our values. So you've got family and friends, you've got coworkers, but now you've got social media and news outlets and all sorts of entertainment that's instantly available through little devices and big devices, books, podcasts, lots of advertising, a confused culture, and it can be a real mess if you don't know where to find your values, where to choose your values, and what to look for. And that's why Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs to give people guidelines for living, to give instruction, to give sayings that can guide and direct your life, like a compass. So it's not merely a book of information, it's a book of wisdom. And it teaches us how to choose the right influences and listen to the right voices, walk the right path, and lead people in the right direction. So for the sermon title slide, I've got one of those old fire stations where they look out and watch for whatever's going on, fires. And I'm sure we could get Tim up here to explain to us everything that would go on with that. But to be watchful because you just never know when something's going to spring up that you need to address. If it were a fire, you'd want to put it out. But when it comes to kids getting bad information or a friend being led in the wrong direction, or someone compromising and giving into peer pressure or work pressure or things like that that they feel they have to do to keep the job or to make the money to be able to survive. And lots of compromise. Seems at the time like it's a good idea, but as time goes on, it's easy to find that it's a trap and there's a lot of regret. And as you make choices today, as you continue down that path, you might end up in a place you don't want to be. And Solomon wrote Proverbs to guide us and direct us in that. So it's good to listen to that. So, number one, listen to wise voices. Listen to wise voices. It is so great when you have godly people that know your name, that care about you, that speak into your life. If you don't have that, sometimes a great TV or radio preacher or podcast or book can be very helpful to guide and direct you if you don't have that. John Piper from Bethlehem Baptist was very big into biographies and said that there were a bunch of dead people that had gone before us that we should read about so that we can get encouragement for our life. That's pretty cool. So it'd even be better if people wanted to find out more about you after you had lived this life to find encouragement from your life. But okay, so uh Romans 15, 4. Paul writes, Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the scriptures and the encouragement they provide, we might have hope. So think about that. Got Abraham's faith that we can learn from in the Old Testament. We've got Joseph's integrity, you've got Moses' leadership and Noah's building the ark in great faith while preaching righteousness to others. To learn from Daniel's courage, from Nehemiah's leadership, from Josiah's renewal, from Barnabas' encouragement, to learn from all of those things. God gives that to us in the scripture. He gave us those Old Testament stories, the New Testament stories, and the Bible just tells it the way it is. There's so many people that did wrong. They worshiped God, then they didn't worship God. There are so many people in Scripture that you read about that are just not examples worth following. The book of Job gets confusing if you don't realize that Job's, some of Job's friends with their advice was bad advice. So you got to be real careful when you're quoting from the book of Job to make sure that whatever you're quoting was actually something that God was approving and not one of the foolish thoughts of Job's friends. So, but God has given us the whole Bible for us to apply to our life to learn from, to be encouraged, to motivate us, to teach us, to guide us, and to know more about God. So biographies, just think about biographies for a minute. I just mentioned this, but people have lived their lives before us, and some did good, and some kind of messed up. So there's this book from Jerusalem to Arian Jaya. I never know how to say it. It might be Jaya, I'm not really sure. But so all sorts of stories about people that went into missions, a biographical history of Christian missions. And the author, I don't know if she went out of her way to find bad stuff on people, but she presents them as good and bad. So an example in this book is somebody that gave it all up for Jesus. C.T. Studd was going to be a missionary to the world and make a difference in the world. And he gave up being a cricket player, professional cricket player, and money and wealth and so much more, so that he could go be a missionary in China. And so he went to China and he was not well received. Life was difficult. Eventually they started to see some fruit. He was there for a decade, and for that time, for five years, Studd wrote, We never went outside our doors without a volley of curses from our neighbors. So he found that he was effective work in his work with opium addicts. He had received a substantial inheritance and gave it all away and chose to live entirely by faith, as other missionaries did. But eventually he had a period of great ministry, and then towards the end, some accused him of being an addict. And so it was good, it was bad, it was unpredictable, it was faithful, it was godly, it was a mess. And so if you're gonna read a book about some missionary hero, a lot of people just want to show you the good things. Just want to tell you he gave up cricket. He was a professional cricket player, he went to go reach the world, China, India, he did all this stuff. And he was so great, and that was wonderful, be like him. But instead, when you can read the lives of people who struggle, the people who go through hard times, the people who make mistakes, the people who have starts and then they fall and they get back up and they start again. Sometimes that is the biggest encouragement ever. I don't know what kind of ministry training you've had or what kind of training you've had in other things, but books are still very important. And so recently I added to my education and got a master's degree in ministry and whatever, but they made us read these books about preachers, biographies of preachers, and one was called Preachers Who Made a Difference by Peter Jeffrey. And so we read about Hugh Latimer's courageous reformation preaching in martyrdom, John Knox's bold defense of biblical truth in Scotland, Samuel Davies' revival preaching and evangelistic zeal, J.C. Ryle's clear, practical biblical exposition, C. H. Spurgeon's Christ-centered preaching and gospel proclamation, and also life of constant depression and all of the hard things that he went through. A. W. Tozer's deep pursuit of God and spiritual worship, and how his children didn't necessarily appreciate that he was so involved in his work, he didn't have much time for them. And Martin Lloyd Jones expository preaching and emphasis on revival. And so they tell you the good things, they tell you the struggles, they give you some warnings, and sometimes the warnings come from people that were disappointed, people that didn't feel like the person did enough, and it's a battle, it's a mess. But think about your path, think about your way, think about what you choose to do and the way that you choose to live your life, how are you living? So Proverbs 12:15 says, Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others. So to think about that, to think about the way that we live our lives and the things that we do. And then Proverbs 13:20 says, Walk with the wise and become wise. Associate with fools and get in trouble. So again, Proverbs 1.8. My chill up, my child, listen when your father corrects you. Do not neglect your mother's instruction. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honor around your neck. So the first thing is to listen, to open your ears, to seek to learn, to come to God's word and ask the Holy Spirit to help you to understand. What is it saying? Is it for them? Is it for me? Is it for all time? What should I start doing? What should I stop doing? How should I think about these things? What can I do? We all need to learn from someone. Moses learned from Jethro. Joshua learned from Moses. Elisha learned from Elijah. Timothy learned from Paul. Who are you learning from? Who are you teaching? How are you sharing your life with others? And again, fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others. Sometimes fools don't know, they're fools because they don't know there's another way. But if you can come alongside them and show them a better way, actually show them that in Christ, when Jesus comes into their heart to become a new creation, the Holy Spirit helps them to live that new way, that is even better. And again, walk with the wise and become wise and associate with fools and get in trouble. To walk with the wise, to be surrounded by the wise, to know some wise people, to have some phone numbers of some wise people you can call, you can contact if you have an issue. Even as a church, it's so good that we are not an independent church. So we are not a non-denominational church. We act like a non-denominational church when it comes to a lot of things, but we're part of a group called Converge, which used to be named the Baptist General Conference and still Baptist, but they changed their name to Converge. Don't know exactly why they chose that name, but nonetheless, we're part of a group of other churches, like I'm not sure how many churches, like 1,500 churches. And so when we have a question, when we have issues, we have somebody to call. We have other pastor friends that can guide us and direct us, and we are curious when we wonder if we should do something in a church or if we shouldn't. And sometimes when there's conflicts, they will come up here and even help. And maybe they helped in the past. They have a new leader now. His name is Andy, and he's been up here multiple times. But it is so good to be part of a group that is involved in church planting, involved in church health, can involved in church development and redevelopment, and to gain from their wisdom and experience and to have that common bond. So those things are good. So there's a lot of voices, and it's good to listen to good voices. Maybe that voice could be you. Maybe there's somebody that could learn the wisdom that you've gained over the years when it comes to parenting, when it comes to business, when it comes to just being patient with God. So I mentioned this before, but I've heard from the old timers how they survived the depression and how they had hope and how God provided and all of those things. And sometimes for the young people, it just seems so hopeless. And if you've got experience with God, you can come alongside these people and say, Yeah, things were tough for us too. And this is what God did, and this is how God provided, and this is my experience with the Lord and how you can trust Him. Number two, avoid harmful influences. So Solomon writes, My child, if sinners entice you, turn your back on them. If sinners entice you, turn your back on them. So the NIV says, Don't give in to them. The Anglo Standard Version says, do not consent. So don't follow their way, don't go with them, don't follow the thing that they're trying to get you to do that you just know is wrong. Don't surrender to the pressure, don't give in to the influence, don't follow the crowd simply because everyone else is going in that direction. There is a lot of mob mentality stuff that goes on. And if you're in a group, sometimes you find yourself doing things that you wouldn't have done otherwise, and you're even surprised that you did it. Sometimes it has consequences that you didn't realize. And yeah, I don't know why so many people do crazy things today when there's cameras everywhere. It's like, why would you do that when you know there's cameras everywhere? And you know that they can pretty much identify you by your cell phone fingerprint when you showed up. But be careful of that. So Proverbs 111. Long, long ago, Solomon wrote about this, and it seems so timely today. So watch out for these sinners that entice you. They may say, Come and join us. Let's hide and kill someone just for fun. Let's ambush the innocent. Let's swallow them alive like the grave. Let's swallow them whole like those who go down to the pit of death. Think of the great things we'll get. We'll fill our houses with all the stuff we take. Come, throw in your lot with us, and we'll all share the loot. That's some crazy talk. And so we're using the New Living Translation for this because it's kind of easier to understand, but it is kind of cryptic. But when you look at it, it really does apply today. There's the temptation to give in, to get stuff, to get rich, to enjoy yourself, to be part of the crowd, to enjoy belonging and acceptance and being part of the group, promising friendship and acceptance, even a shortcut to success. Think about it. Come join us. The teenager is invited to a party where parents won't be home. The coworker is encouraged to join an office gossip, or the friend group mocks Christian convictions. Nobody will get hurt. Let's ambush the innocent. Online bullying disguised as a joke. That's even worse now that you can go onto Facebook and be anonymous. Now the comments are way worse than they were before when people just show up as anonymous. Sharing embarrassing photos or rumors for laughs, scamming strangers because they'll never know it was me. Think of the great things we'll get. Look at what we can gain because we're cheating on taxes, falsifying hours in a time card, selling products dishonestly to make a bigger commission. There is so much of that selling things dishonestly. There's people literally repairing rust on cars with spray foam and painting over it and then telling you it's in great condition. That's not good. So throw in your lot with us. You can be long with us. Join the crowd because you fear being left out. Go along with sinful behavior to gain acceptance. Young people changing values to fit into a social group. Sometimes young people change their values up a lot. I've noticed over the years that sometimes they change who they are, like they're different, trying on different personalities. They're trying to be different people at different times to see where the best friends are or how they'll end up. And as parents and people that care, sometimes we just patiently guide and endure and pray for them as they go through that. But Proverbs 1 focuses on the sales pitch of sin, and it tells you what sinners say before you join them. And Solomon says, My child, don't go along with them, stay far away from their paths. Don't do it, don't go there, don't destroy your life. He continues on in verse 16. They rush to commit evil deeds, they hurry to commit murder. If a bird sees a trap being set, it knows to stay away. But these people set an ambush for themselves. They are trying to get themselves killed. Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money, it robs them of life. So here Solomon is saying, these people that think they're setting a trap for someone else, or actually setting a trap for themselves, these people that think they're going to get ahead by doing all these things that are wrong, may find that as time goes on, that they're the ones whose lives are really being destroyed. And so it is a difficult thing when you realize that your greed has destroyed you, when your sin has consumed you, when you thought the thing that was going to bring you profit, brought you to ruin, or got you put in jail, or now you go through life with a felony. Sin always promises more than it delivers, it always takes more than it gives, and it always costs more than expected. But to choose the right path. That is so true. That's true with kids, that's true with dogs. I tell you, if you get your dog together with another dog who has a bad habit, your dog might learn that. So before you get your dog together with another dog for a play date, you just might want to check and see what kind of qualities does your dog have. Because I don't want my dog to learn to do that. So, yeah, I've mentioned this before, and I'll just mention it real quick. That we have one dog that will just sit there with his tongue sticking halfway out. And first we thought, what's wrong with him? What is this? He's like, mmm, and then we found out, oh, that's a way for a furry dog to cool himself. Then we had another dog come along and didn't do it, and then pretty soon that dog started to do it too. So it's like they're learning from each other. But in our lives, we learn from other people too. But choose the right path. Choose the right path. Think about who you want to be, what you want to do, how you want to please God, the options before you, and what can you do to choose the right path. Sometimes the test of faith will be for you to choose the right path. And you might have to say no to a job or say no to an opportunity or reveal something you're selling to somebody to be honest with them so that they know exactly what they're getting or whatever it is. And when you choose to do the right thing, then God can provide, God can guide, God can show you what you're supposed to do now. You don't have any guilt over it. You don't wonder if anybody's gonna find out and come after you later. You don't fear letters from lawyers in the mail or from the IRS, nonetheless. I try to pay all my taxes, but I always get real nervous when those IRS letters come. It's like, what did they want? What's happening? So last year I got a letter that said that my taxes were done in error, which are done by a professional tax guy, and they have corrected them. And here's a check for $1.33. I'm like, you could have just kept it, but yeah. All right, to choose the right path. Move to Proverbs 4. Don't do as the wicked do. Don't follow the path of evildoers. Don't even think about it. Don't go that way. Turn away and keep moving, for evil people can't sleep until they've done their evil deed for the day. They can't rest until they've caused someone to stumble. They eat the food of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. But the way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like total darkness. They have no idea what they are stumbling over. The way of the wicked, they are consumed by evil. Now, what kind of people would that be in our society? Drug dealers recruiting new customers, human traffickers looking for new victims, organized scammers constantly creating new schemes, who can't rest without causing harm. Internet trolls who spend hours attacking strangers, people who wake up looking for someone to cancel online, individuals obsessed with revenge after being offended, leading other people into sin, causing them to stumble, friends pressuring others to get drunk, influencers encouraging sexual immorality, people mocking those who want to follow Christ faithfully. I don't know what it is about people that they just think that it'd be so great if you're a Christ follower who says that you don't drink, then they really ramp it up and they try to do everything they can to get you to drink with them, and that temptation is there, and they just take great satisfaction in getting you to do what they're doing. And sometimes people want you to do what they're doing because it makes them feel better about their guilt. They have this inner sense that what they're doing isn't right, that they're living together and it isn't right, that they're doing things morally that aren't right, and if they can get you to stumble into that, then they'll feel better about that themselves. Then maybe they'll call you a hypocrite too and say, oh, you claim to be godly, but you do the same stuff we do. But people mocking those who want to follow Christ faithfully. Sometimes the loudest mockers are the ones that turn out to be the most interested. Sometimes if you can hold on and hold out your faith, sometimes those are the people that respond. But profiting from destruction, profiting from destruction are people that like predatory lenders targeting desperate people, criminal enterprises that make money from addiction, businesses that knowingly exploit people for gain. Some of those predatory lenders and some of those car dealerships are pretty strange. So I was looking online for a vehicle and I found one that I really liked, and it was on this car lot, and I went to the car lot and I said, Hey, I'm interested in that car, how much is it? And the guy's like, Do you have bad credit? I'm like, No, I don't have bad credit, I have good credit. He said, I can't sell you the car then. He said, We only sell the people with cars with bad credit. I'm like, okay. So then later on, I actually took somebody that wanted me to drive them to a car dealership like that. And so they had bad credit, really bad credit. And so they're like, I'd like this car, I know the interest is high and everything, but I'll I make payments to you, okay. And on the application, they wanted to know like the person's name and work address, all the stuff about the normal stuff, and then they wanted to know like your relatives' names, your parents' names, your grandparents' names, your uncles, your aunts, and anybody else. And I said to the guy, I said, Why are you asking all that information? He said, Because if he doesn't make the payment, we're gonna start contacting every one of them and let them know that he's not making the payment. And I'm like, that seems like a lot of work for the amount of interest you're charging on the low-value car that you're selling. But that was their business model. And that, I don't know, it seems a bit harsh. All right, but don't enter the path of the wicked. The way of the wicked is like total darkness. They have no idea what they are stumbling over. So the ESV says, do not enter the path of the wicked. Stay away from that. Don't do those things, don't live that way. You will be disappointed. Psalm 1 actually says, The joys, oh the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around sinners, or join with mockers, stand in the way that sinners take, or sit in the company of mockers. Another translation, sits in the seat of scoffers. So the progression, don't follow them, don't stand with them, don't join with them. So you remember back in the Old Testament in Genesis chapter 13, you had Abraham and Lot. And eventually their possessions got to be too big, and they needed to divide up their herds and all the people that they had and make more room and everything. So Abraham told Lot, whatever space you take, I'll take the other one you can choose. And he chose the fertile plain near Sodom, which as you know was not a great place to live, as far as the neighbors. First, he simply moved near Sodom. Lot then later lived in Sodom. And eventually the corruption of Sodom affected his entire family. His downfall did not happen overnight. It happened one choice at a time. One path led to another, and that is true in our lives. So a lot of people have good intentions. They want to grow spiritually, they want to have a strong marriage, they want to raise godly children, they want to follow Christ. But one little compromise at a time pulls them away from that. Sometimes people say, Well, I used to go to church all the time, but now I can just listen to it or watch it online. And so I used to listen to church all the time, but now I just listen to it sometimes or watch it sometimes. Yeah, I haven't really been to church for a long time. I should probably get back sometime. And time goes on and on, and the years go by, and you find yourself very far from Christ, wishing that you would have chosen to live a different way. Many people wake up years later wondering how they arrived, where they are. So Christian testimonies are huge. So I shared some of the biography here. But Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, that's a pretty good one. He was a missionary too, but it was more about his spiritual life and how he trusted God for things. I think R. A. Tori wrote this book called Why God Used D. L. Moody. That's a pretty good one for old times, too. But sometimes people aren't as affected or as motivated for people from the 1800s or 1900s because they're like, everything's changed now, everything's different now. You don't know what my life is like now. So Unshackled from the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. I think they still play it on Psalm FM, I think. It starts out with the organ unshackled, the story of Christians or whatever. That radio show has been running since 1950, and they're still making new episodes now. And some of them are pretty encouraging. I am second, IamSecond.com. They have, I mentioned this before, when I first came here, I had an I Am Second.com thing on the back of my truck. But they have testimonies of people, normal people, athletes, movie people, rodeo people, race car drivers, and they sit in a white chair and they talk about their messed up life and how they gave their life to Jesus and now how Jesus is first and there, second. That's a pretty decent tool, pretty encouraging. So to find things like that can give encouragement. Sometimes when you share your story, your testimony about how your life wasn't perfect and how Jesus has come into your life, and your life still isn't perfect, but you are changing in how God is working on you, that gives you encouragement too. So strong Christian lives are really built in a day. They are built through thousands of ordinary decisions to keep following Christ. And wise leaders know this and do whatever they can to try to guide and inspire the people around them to keep moving closer to following Christ. Number four, guard your heart. Maybe this is the most important verse in all of what we're reading here today, but to guard our heart. Our heart is the important part of our life. So, first, before Solomon says, guard your heart, he says, My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. The words that I just said, and the thing that I'm just about I'm gonna say in just a minute here. He says, Don't lose sight of them, let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. And he says, Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. When we give to the Lord, we're supposed to give as directed by our heart. We Jesus said in Luke 6 45, a good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. So to guard our heart, to focus on the things of God. So to avoid all perverse talk. Then he says, to put this into practice, to guard our heart, to avoid all perverse talk, to stay away from corrupt speech, to look straight ahead and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet, stay on the safe path. Don't get sidetracked and keep your feet from following evil. So to avoid all perverse talk, again, you could avoid gossip at work and not exaggerate stories to make yourself look better, and avoid crude jokes and inappropriate conversations, to refuse to tear people down in person or on social media, and to speak truthfully truthfully, even when a lie would be easier. So your words often reveal the direction of your heart. So to look straight ahead, to fix your eyes on what lies before you, to guard your focus, so staying focused on God's purpose instead of following every trend. A husband and wife avoiding refusing to entertain flirtatious relationships, a Christian avoiding online content that pulls their heart away from Christ, and staying committed to biblical priorities instead of constantly comparing yourselves to others. So choosing friends that encourage your faith, creating financial habits that avoid unnecessary debt, that's marking out a straight path for your feet and staying on the safe path, setting boundaries with technology and entertainment and scheduling, regular worship, prayer, and Bible reading rather than hoping they happen and avoiding distractions, not getting sidetracked, not allowing hobbies, sports, politics, or work to become idols, not chasing success while neglecting family or spiritual growth. So many of those things. So again, to watch your mouth, watch your eyes, watch your path, watch your steps, and that will transform you from the inside out. Proverbs 27, 19, a faces reflected in water. As there are faces reflected in water, so the heart reflects the heart of the real person. So the most important thing though is that I can give you a list of all the things you should do and all the things you can't do or shouldn't do. But it's really hard to do it on your own. It's hard to live the Christian life on your own. When you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, when you admit your sin and receive him, have him come into your life. New testaments out there that talk about that, about repenting and coming to Christ, that you will be changed. You will become a new creation. In Ephesians 3.17 says Christ will make his home in your heart as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. So next week is Father's Day, and we're going to continue talking about Proverbs and talking about leading your family well. And that is actually good for parents, grandparents, and people that don't even have kids. Leading your life well is good. But I'm going to pray, and then the worship team is going to come up here. We're going to sing the goodness of God. And then if you have to leave, you can leave. But if you could stay for five and a half minutes, we will show you what the adventure, or that I was going to call it adventure club, what the vacation Bible school, Wonder Junction material was about, and then show you some video of what happened during those five days, what those kids did during those five days. So I think you'll enjoy seeing that. But the worship team can come up here and I'm going to pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you so much that you've given us your word, and there's so many wonderful things in there to ponder and to apply in our lives. I pray that your Holy Spirit would show us the things that we need to do differently and encourage us with the things that we're doing well. I pray that you'd give us insight to the people in our lives around us so that we can encourage them and tell them the things that they're doing well, and maybe even share with them the things that they might choose to do differently to be closer to Jesus and to live a more effective life. But we just thank you for it all. We commit it all to you in Jesus' name. Amen.