Summary: <p> June 17, 2012</p> <p> There are many examples of individuals who discovered success later in life - or made their greatest contribution as an older adult. Some were motivated because of their faith. Well-known examples shared in the sermon include Corrie ten Boom and Sal Dimiceli, Ronald Reagan, Laura Engels Wilder, and Colonel Sanders. Another further example shared concerned the Lusitania, which sunk in 1915 just 8 miles from its destination port. It was used as a metaphor for people whose lives get “torpedoed” towards the end of their journey.</p> <p> Pastor Rich Nathan is in the middle of a series called Derailed – What Causes People to Fail. Under King Solomon, Israel entered its Golden Age of Prosperity and Peace. But Solomon’s life stands as a warning to us that even in old age a fall away from God and away from God’s people is still possible. In 1 Kings 3 – we see he struggled early in his life (both poor marriage decisions and making sacrifices to other gods). These decisions led to consequences early in life. The Apostle Paul gives us the absolute rule of both the physical and moral universe in Galatians 6.7-8. The choices that we make in our teens, our 20’s, 30’s and 40’s will reap in our 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.</p> <p> In 1 Kings 9, we see the consequences of neglecting the warning sings. God does warn us directly by his Spirit; and, God does warn us through his written Word. But one of the chief means that God uses to tell us we are getting off track is that he speaks to us through other people. The question was asked, “Are [we] correctable people?”</p> <p> There is a word that appears over 100 times in the book of Proverbs. It is the word “fool.” In fact, the concept of being a fool is so significant to the authors of the book of Proverbs that they use a number of different Hebrew words to deal with the issue of being a fool. The writer of Proverbs says there is a kind of fool that you can describe as “thick-headed” - someone you can’t get through to. What are you like?</p> <p> Solomon fell in old age as a consequence of neglecting warnings from God. His grip was slackening on the Lord. Solomon fell on the consequence of “mis-wantings” (Ecc 2:10-11). “The bottom line is people aren’t unhappy because we don’t get what we want. We are unhappy because we want the wrong things. Because we mis-want, because we are terrible at predicting what will ultimately make us happy in life.” Solomon got all that he wanted, but he didn’t want the right things. And in the end, he ended up with wind.</p> <p> Fortunately, we’re not just left with negative examples in the Bible of people who ended life poorly. There are many, many folks in scripture who ended well. We read about Enoch in Genesis 5, who walked with God his whole life. We read about Abraham, who died in a good old age, full of years, still in love with God. We read about Joshua (Jos 24:31), Simeon (Lk 2:29-32), and Anna (Luke 2:36-38) - what kind of older adult do we want to be? Where do we want to end up in old age?</p> <p> <a href="/_media/uploads/files/watch_and_listen/Follow-upBibleStudies/2012/Derailed/20120617%20derailed%20in%20old%20age%20lessons%20from%20the%20life%20of%20king%20solomon.pdf" target="_blank">Follow-up Bible Study</a></p> <p> <a href="/_media/uploads/files/watch_and_listen/SmallGroupDiscussionGuides/2012/Derailed/June_17_Derailed_in_Old_Age.pdf" target="_blank">Sermon Discussion Guide</a></p>
