Sermon Tone Analysis

Family T.I.M.E.

Psalm 90:1-2, 4, 10, 12

Sermon Outline

May 1, 2005

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

One of my favorite stories is about the man who worked at a factory.

One of his main jobs was to blow the factory whistle at 5:00 to indicate the workday was over.

He walked to work each day and passed a jewelry store where a beautiful grandfather clock was displayed in the window.

Every morning, he stopped and set his pocket watch to match the time on the grandfather clock.

One morning the storeowner was out front sweeping the sidewalk and the factory worker asked him how he kept such accurate time on the grandfather clock.

The jeweler said, “Oh, I set it every afternoon when the factory whistle blows at 5:00.”

That could lead to trouble!

People live by the clock, because time is important to all of us.

Benjamin Franklin said, “Do not squander time, for it is the stuff life is made of.”

I want to complete my on the Family with what I have come to believe is the most important element any family can do together, Spend time together.

*Spending time together is the key to a strong family.

*

 

Many frustrated people seem to always fight the clock.

They stay up late, then they sleep as late as they can and then rush frantically to school or work, gulping down an unhealthy breakfast in the car, applying their make-up (or using a razor) at the stoplight, talking on their cell phone at the same time.

They think they are so busy they have to rush, rush, rush everywhere.

They work 60 hours a week and complain that they don’t have enough time to worship or to spend time with their family.

As I study Jesus’ life I am amazed that He never seemed to be in a hurry.

Although He was doing the most important job in history (redeeming the world), and although He knew He only had a few years to do it, He never ran.

He made time to consider the flowers and the birds of the air.

He had time to put his hands on the little children and bless them.

Time was His friend.

The Bible gives us some great insight into how time can become your friend rather than your enemy.

Basically, God exists in a realm that is not bound by time or space.

God doesn’t wear a Rolex or even a Timex.

He doesn’t have a Day-Timer or a Palm Pilot.

He is the Creator of time, and He is greater than time.

So, the first step in making time your friend is to totally immerse your life in God.

In, we read:

 

*Psalm 90:1-2, 4, 10, 12 NIV*

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place \\        throughout all generations.

2 Before the mountains were born \\        or you brought forth the earth and the world, \\        from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

 

4 For a thousand years in your sight \\        are like a day that has just gone by, \\        or like a watch in the night.

10 The length of our days is seventy years— \\        or eighty, if we have the strength; \\        yet their span [a] is but trouble and sorrow, \\        for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

12 Teach us to number our days aright, \\        that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

I’ll use the four letters in the word TIME to help us learn about the importance of family TIME.

T - TREASURE! - Tesoro

 

God says we should treasure time as a valuable commodity.

You number your years (or at least some of you do), but God says every day is so precious, we should treasure it and number it.

How valuable is an hour?

Ask the businessman whose flight was delayed an hour and he missed an important business deal.

How valuable is one minute?

Ask the man who had the heart attack in the restaurant and an EMT happened to be sitting at the next table and CPR saved his life.

How valuable is a second?

Ask the person who hesitated for a second before swerving to avoid the oncoming car.

How valuable is a fraction of a second?

Ask the Olympic swimmer who missed qualifying by six-tenths of a second.

Time really is valuable.

So learn a couple of things about what this means for your family:

 

 

 

1.

The most valuable asset to share with your family is your time

 

1.

La ventaja más valiosa qué usted puede compartir con su familia es su tiempo.

Parents, do you love your children?

Give them the gift of your time.

Husbands and wives, give each other the precious blessing of time.

Sadly, many parents spell love “T.H.I.N.G.S” but children spell love “T.I.M.E.”

I can honestly say I can’t remember everything my dad gave me as kid.

But do remember him taking me fishing one day.

Parents: give the gift to your children that really does keep on giving–give them your time.

Husbands and wives, give each other your time; it’s the perfect gift for every occasion!

I read the heartbreaking story of a little boy whose dad was always busy working.

One day the boy asked, “Dad, how much money do you earn in an hour?”

The impatient dad said, “I don’t know, I guess I make about $50 an hour when I’m working, now don’t bother me.”

After a couple of weeks of doing odd jobs around his neighborhood, the little boy approached his dad one evening and said, “Dad, here’s $25.

Can I buy 30 minutes of your time so we can play together?”

Ouch.

 

2.

You can make more money but you can’t make more time

 

2.

Usted puede ganar más dinero pero no puede hacer más tiempo

 

 

Have you ever heard the expression, “time is money?”

It’s not true.

Time is much more valuable than money.

It may be hard to make more money, but it can be done.

But it is totally impossible to make more time.

TIME is more valuable than money.

A.W. Tozer wrote:

 

“Time is a resource that is nonrenewable and nontransferable.

You cannot store it, slow it up, hold it up, divide it up or give it up.

You can’t hoard it up or save it for a rainy day–when it’s lost it’s unrecoverable.

When you kill time, remember that it has no resurrection.”

So, understand that you should treasure time as the most valuable asset you are given in this world.

The next letter in TIME is:

 

I.

Invest    Invierta

 

We use a lot of phrases with time that aren’t really possible.

You can’t buy more time and you can’t really find more time.

We speak of making time, but that’s impossible, too.

 

1.

You can’t save time - you only invest it

 

1.

Usted no puede ahorra tiempo - usted sólo lo invierte

 

 

Time is more valuable than money, but it’s like money in that it can be spent and invested.

It’s different from money though, because while money can be saved, time can’t.

If you don’t use it, you lose it.

Forever.

In the early 1970s Jim Croce wrote a song that said, “If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I’d like to do, is to save every day ‘till eternity passes away–just to spend them with you.”

Those are great lyrics, and it would be nice if we could save time, but you can’t.

In fact, a few months after he wrote that song, he was tragically killed in a plane crash in Natchitoches, Louisiana at the age of 30.

You can’t save time.

We have all kinds of time saving appliances like microwave ovens.

Guys love to take short cuts in order to “save time.”