STRENGTH TRAINING (4 OF 5)
by Jeff Strite
Scripture: II Corinthians 12:1-10
This content is part of a series.
Strength Training (4 of 5)
Series: The Upside Down Teachings of Jesus
Jeff Strite
II Corinthians 12:1-10
OPEN: A work crew had been working at a construction site for about a week when the company hired a new man to replace a man who’d been hurt the day before. He was a broad-shouldered, powerful young man and was a good worker… but he was also annoying.
He was always bragging that he was stronger than anyone else at the worksite and he especially made fun of one of the older workmen.
Finally one of the older workers had had enough. "Sonny,” he said “why don’t you put your money where your mouth is. I will bet a week’s wages that I can haul something in a wheelbarrow over to that out building that you won’t be able to wheel back."
The boy smiled and said: “You’re on, old man. Let’s see what you got."
The old man reached out and grabbed the wheelbarrow by the handles. Then, nodding to the young man, he said, "All right, get in."
APPLY: That young man typifies much of how the world thinks about life. The world believes that power, and wealth, and position are all you need in this life. The world believes in the survival of the fittest - that the man with the most might and the most money … wins.
ILLUS: One man once observed: “The battle isn’t always to the strong, nor the race to the swift… but that’s the way to bet.”
And that truly makes sense. We’re in the midst of March Madness, where the best basketball teams have competed in the “Sweet Sixteen” and now they’re in the midst of the “Elite Eight” and eventually the “Final Four”. Ultimately it will boil down to a contest between two final teams, and the winner of that game will be declared the best college basketball team in the nation.
But if you were to take that final team – the best college basketball team in the nation – and you pitted them against EVEN the worst professional team in the NBA… it’s going to be a blowout.
That college team wouldn’t have the experience, the speed, the ...
Series: The Upside Down Teachings of Jesus
Jeff Strite
II Corinthians 12:1-10
OPEN: A work crew had been working at a construction site for about a week when the company hired a new man to replace a man who’d been hurt the day before. He was a broad-shouldered, powerful young man and was a good worker… but he was also annoying.
He was always bragging that he was stronger than anyone else at the worksite and he especially made fun of one of the older workmen.
Finally one of the older workers had had enough. "Sonny,” he said “why don’t you put your money where your mouth is. I will bet a week’s wages that I can haul something in a wheelbarrow over to that out building that you won’t be able to wheel back."
The boy smiled and said: “You’re on, old man. Let’s see what you got."
The old man reached out and grabbed the wheelbarrow by the handles. Then, nodding to the young man, he said, "All right, get in."
APPLY: That young man typifies much of how the world thinks about life. The world believes that power, and wealth, and position are all you need in this life. The world believes in the survival of the fittest - that the man with the most might and the most money … wins.
ILLUS: One man once observed: “The battle isn’t always to the strong, nor the race to the swift… but that’s the way to bet.”
And that truly makes sense. We’re in the midst of March Madness, where the best basketball teams have competed in the “Sweet Sixteen” and now they’re in the midst of the “Elite Eight” and eventually the “Final Four”. Ultimately it will boil down to a contest between two final teams, and the winner of that game will be declared the best college basketball team in the nation.
But if you were to take that final team – the best college basketball team in the nation – and you pitted them against EVEN the worst professional team in the NBA… it’s going to be a blowout.
That college team wouldn’t have the experience, the speed, the ...
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