Proverbs

This Sunday Im beginning a series of teachings from the book of Proverbs. Ive never preached from Proverbs before and as Ive been studying Ive been asking myself, How in the world am I going to pull this off? So many stand alone verses. So many opportunities to proof-text. So many possible message topics.

Well, I think Ive had a breakthrough this morning, with no time to spare. Im going to highlight the different characters mentioned throughout the book. These are characters we meet as we walk down the path in search for wisdom. Each character manifests different traits, beliefs, and behaviors. When I focus on the characters, Proverbs takes on a narrative shape that is helpful to me as a preacher/storyteller.

Im not sure how many characters well end up studying, but here are some options:

The Wise (Introduction to Proverbs/nature of wisdom)
God (The beginning of wisdom)
The Simple (Easily led astray, must choose between wisdom or folly)
The Fool (Arrogant, un-teachable, rejects God)
The Hothead (cant control his anger)
The Drunkard (burp)
The Greedy
The Big Mouth
The Sluggard
The Adulteress
The Woman of Virtue

By the way, it was Kenneth Aitkens commentary on Proverbs that led me in this direction.