Info Bar

This Week
@ The Bridge

Announcements


Cars Clinic
Saturday, Aug 6th @ 9:00a-12:00p
The Bridge Reno
If you are a single mother or senior who is in need of regular maintenance or small repairs on your vehicle, we will be hosting a cars clinic at The Bridge Reno.  You can sign up to have you car looked at  https://thebridgereno.com/cars

Back to School Prayer Walk 
Saturday, Aug 13th 9:00a-11:00a
The Bridge - Kids Kingdom
Join us as we go out and pray for the teachers, students, and administrative staff of our local schools. 
 
SUPPORT OUR MISSION
You can support our mission using the Give Button in our App or online at https://thebridgereno.com/giving


Message Notes

Wisdom: The Value of Work

Pastor Bill West
August 7, 2022


Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. (Prov. 6:6–11)

The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. 
Proverbs 21:5

The Diligent vs. The Lazy (Sluggard)
Personally Motivated.
Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.” 
Proverbs 10:4–5

The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not even bring it back to his mouth! 
Proverbs 19:24

All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. 
Proverbs 14:23

He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty. 
Proverbs 28:19

Shares With Others.
The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work. All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing.  
Proverbs 21:25–26

He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.” 
Ephesians 4:28

Work for An Audience of One.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.  
Colossians 3:23–24

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
Hebrews 6:10

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:58


When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 
Matthew 9:36–38

Bottom Line: We Work for An Audience of One!

Small Groups Talk About It

  1. What did you learn about the issue of work growing up?  What do you believe would be your ideal job and why?

  1. Read Genesis 1:28, 2:15 and 3:17-19. What do these verses teach work? Was work always a part of God’s plan or did it come in as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin?

  1. Read Proverbs 6:6-11. Talk about how the ant helps us learn about work.  What image comes to mind when you think of a sluggard? 

  1. Read Proverbs 19:24; 22:13; 20:4. What are some of the characteristics of a sluggard? How have you seen these in your life and in others? 

  1. Read Proverbs 16:26 and 2 Thessalonians 3:10. What should we do to help the sluggard?

  1. Read Proverbs 10:4-5; 28:19; Colossians 3:23-24 and Proverbs 21:25-26. Discuss the value and benefit of hard work. Is there such a thing as a “Christian Job”?  How are we to help those who can’t work or can’t find work? 

  1. Is it possible to be a diligent worker in one area of your life and a lazy sluggard in another area?

  1. What is your biggest frustration with the work you now do?  What is your greatest joy?

  1. What does it mean that we “work for an audience of one”? Read Colossians 2:23-24; 1 Corinthians 15:58.  How is “our work tired up in God’s work”?

  1. Pray for each other and the work that you have or that you need.