{"id":16,"date":"2018-11-06T16:00:41","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T00:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/migrate.bettersermons.org\/?p=16"},"modified":"2020-06-01T11:41:33","modified_gmt":"2020-06-01T18:41:33","slug":"dont-be-deceived-by-appearances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/dont-be-deceived-by-appearances\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Be Deceived by Appearances"},"content":{"rendered":"

Objects:<\/strong>\u00a0A cheap gold imitation watch and a very expensive golden watch<\/p>\n

Lesson:<\/strong>\u00a0Look beneath appearances to find lasting value<\/p>\n

Outline:
\n<\/strong>
\n1.\u00a0Things that attract attention aren\u2019t necessarily valuable.
\n2.\u00a0Things of true value last.
\n3.\u00a0Spiritual treasures\u2014love, hope, faith\u2014are truly valuable.<\/p>\n

Look at these two golden watches. This watch certainly stands out, doesn\u2019t it? See how it shines and sparkles with this golden design. It looks expensive, like something it would take your whole year\u2019s allowance to buy, or maybe more than that! But, its looks are deceiving; it\u2019s just a cheap watch you can buy for a few dollars. Everything that shines and sparkles isn\u2019t necessarily very valuable.<\/p>\n

Now look at this other watch. It\u2019s rather plain and simple, without any decoration. But, if you look closely at the back of this watch you will find some printing\u2014it says \u201c14K.\u201d That means that this watch is made of gold. It\u2019s worth quite a bit more than this other one.<\/p>\n

The gold watch is worth more for a lot of reasons, one being that gold lasts; it doesn\u2019t rust or tarnish or turn your skin green when you wear it. Gold lasts a long, long time, and that\u2019s one reason it\u2019s considered to be of great value.<\/p>\n

But, the Bible says that there are things which last even longer than gold, and are thus even more valuable than gold. The Bible says that love lasts forever, and that faith can stand the test of time, and that hope is eternal. These are spiritual treasures, worth more than all the gold in the world.<\/p>\n

Wise people are people who try to see beneath the shine and sparkle of life in order to find those qualities which will last, qualities which only God can give us; money can never buy them. So, look at life carefully, and try to find those treasures that last.<\/p>\n

You won\u2019t be sorry you did.
\n______________________________<\/p>\n

Excerpted\u00a0from\u00a0Elder’s Guide<\/em>, Volume A, General Conference Ministerial Association. Reprinted with permission. Visit the Ministerial Resource Center,<\/span>\u00a0GC Ministerial Association<\/a>\u00a0to purchase this\u00a0and other\u00a0helpful resources. Better Sermons \u00a9 2005-2008. Click here for\u00a0<\/span>usage guidelines<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Objects:\u00a0A cheap gold imitation watch and a very expensive golden watch Lesson:\u00a0Look beneath appearances to find lasting value Outline: 1.\u00a0Things that attract attention aren\u2019t necessarily valuable. 2.\u00a0Things of true value …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions\/18"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}